The current world records for the high jump and long jump are listed below. 1. In 1993, Javier Sotomayor of Cuba established a world record in the men's high jump with a leap of 2.45 meters. That's eight feet! Most ceilings are between 7 1/2 and 8 feet high. Even if you could clear these heights easily, there would be no place to go because there are no doors or windows at these heights.
The highest human recorded by science is Dale Grubb who reached a height of 392 feet (117 m) on a windless day in 1954. No one has ever jumped higher than this because the pressure at that height causes your lungs to explode.
People have been jumping for sport since the 19th century. The first official world championships were held in 1849. Men's high jump: maximum height permitted by law. Women's high jump: minimum height required by law.
An average man can jump 3 feet (1 meter) tall. Some people can jump much more than this. The top male high jumper has cleared 6 feet 10 inches (203 cm) while the top female high jumper has achieved 4 feet 11 inches (145 cm).
The highest anyone has ever jumped was 393 feet (119 m) by Dale Grubb in 1954. He died shortly after breaking his neck on the landing of his second try.
Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) holds the current men's record with a leap of 2.45 m (8 ft 1/4 in) set in 1993, the longest-standing record in men's high jump history. The women's record is still held by Russia's Dina Muster (2.22 m or 7 ft 4 in), who broke it in 2005.
High jumping is a popular sport among boys and young men all over the world. The modern high jump can be traced back to 1838, when George Vernon invented a device that would lift himself off the ground - a spring-loaded board called a "jersey barrier". Two years later, he improved on this design by adding strings attached to weights at each end; today this is known as the "Vernon system". In 1846, English high jumper Dan O'Connor lived up to his name when he cleared 2.32 meters (7 ft 8 in). A decade later, an American named Edward Webb broke this record with a jump of 2.40 meters (7 ft 10 in). This was a huge accomplishment since at that time, most people could only climb very small steps without help. Modern high jumps can reach heights of over 3 meters (10 feet).
The sport of high jumping is divided into three events: the men's high jump, the women's high jump and the horizontal high jump.
A long leap
| Athletics High jump | |
|---|---|
| Men | Javier Sotomayor 2.45 m (8 ft 1⁄4 in) (1993) |
| Women | Stefka Kostadinova 2.09 m ( 6 ft 101⁄4 in) (1987) |
| Olympic records | |
| Men | Charles Austin 2.39 m (7 ft 10 in) (1996) |
He'd be able to hop directly onto the roof! 2-In 1991, American Mike Powell broke the long jump world record by leaping 8.95 meters, or 29 feet 4 inches! See how far he jumped in this video.
The longest recorded human jump was 9.58 meters, or 31 feet 10 inches, by Daljeet Singh at the 2001 World Championships in Athletics in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. The record has since been broken twice more.
Human beings are capable of jumping much farther than this; the limit is primarily on the equipment used to measure distance jumping. The most modern long jump pits need to be able to detect movements as small as 1/100th of an inch to ensure accuracy. Human skin stretches during free jumps, so measuring devices must be accurate to within that range for results to be consistent from trial to trial and athlete to athlete.
Even with these limitations, humans can jump significantly farther than they think. Research shows that we tend to overestimate our abilities in certain situations where we have an incentive to do so. For example, people estimate that they can jump further than they actually can, which may help them compete better when there's a prize at stake.
It's also possible to injure yourself trying to jump farther than you thought possible.
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