# Athletics at the 1976 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump

The men's long jump event at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, had an entry list of 33 competitors from 25 nations, with two qualifying groups (33 jumpers) before the final (12) took place on Thursday July 29, 1976. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The top twelve and ties, and all those reaching 7.80 metres advanced to the final. The qualification round was held in Wednesday July 28, 1976. The event was won by 24cm by Arnie Robinson of the United States, the nation's third consecutive and 16th overall gold medal in the men's long jump. Randy Williams took silver, but the chance of an American sweep (which had happened twice long before in 1896 and 1904) was eliminated when Larry Myricks broke his foot warming up for the final. Robinson and Williams (bronze and gold, respectively in 1972) became the fifth and sixth men to earn two medals in the event. Frank Wartenberg of East Germany took bronze.

## Background

This was the 18th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1972 Games were the three medalists (Randy Williams of the United States, Hans Baumgartner of West Germany, and Arnie Robinson of the United States) as well as ninth-place finisher Valeriy Podluzhniy of the Soviet Union, tenth-place finisher Jacques Rousseau of France, and twelfth-place finisher Grzegorz Cybulski of Poland. The returning pair, along with new teammate Larry Myricks, were favored with a sweep considered a possibility.
Antigua and Barbuda, Fiji, the Ivory Coast, Lebanon, and Trinidad and Tobago each made their first appearance in the event. The United States appeared for the 18th time, the only nation to have long jumpers at each of the Games thus far.

## Competition format

The 1976 competition used the two-round format with divided final introduced in 1952. The qualifying round gave each competitor three jumps to achieve a distance of 7.80 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance. The final provided each jumper with three jumps; the top eight jumpers received an additional three jumps for a total of six, with the best to count (qualifying round jumps were not considered for the final).

## Records

The standing world and Olympic records prior to the event were as follows.
| World record | Bob Beamon (USA) | 8.90 | Mexico City, Mexico | 18 October 1968 |
| Olympic record | Bob Beamon (USA) | 8.90 | Mexico City, Mexico | 18 October 1968 |
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

## Schedule

All times are Eastern Daylight Time (UTC-4)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Wednesday, 28 July 1976 | 10:00 | Qualifying |
| Thursday, 29 July 1976 | 15:00 | Final |

## Results
### Qualifying

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | 1 | 2 | 3 | Distance | Notes |
| 1 | Randy Williams | United States | 7.68 | 7.97 | — | 7.97 | Q |
| 2 | Arnie Robinson | United States | X | 7.95 | — | 7.95 | Q |
| 3 | Larry Myricks | United States | 7.55 | 7.67 | 7.92 | 7.92 | Q |
| 4 | Valeriy Podluzhniy | Soviet Union | 7.71 | 7.90 | — | 7.90 | Q |
| 5 | Frank Wartenberg | East Germany | 7.89 | — | — | 7.89 | Q |
| 6 | João Carlos de Oliveira | Brazil | 7.87 | — | — | 7.87 | Q |
| 7 | Nenad Stekić | Yugoslavia | 7.68 | 7.56 | 7.82 | 7.82 | Q |
| 8 | Jacques Rousseau | France | 7.82 | — | — | 7.82 | Q |
| 9 | Hans Baumgartner | West Germany | 7.81 | — | — | 7.81 | Q |
| 10 | Rolf Bernhard | Switzerland | 7.56 | 7.79 | 7.75 | 7.79 | q |
| 11 | Aleksey Pereverzev | Soviet Union | 7.78 | X | 7.75 | 7.78 | q |
| 12 | Fletcher Lewis | Bahamas | 5.99 | 7.66 | 7.73 | 7.73 | q |
| 13 | Grzegorz Cybulski | Poland | 7.60 | 7.71 | 7.66 | 7.71 | |
| 14 | Hans-Jürgen Berger | West Germany | 7.53 | 7.46 | 7.70 | 7.70 | |
| 15 | Roy Mitchell | Great Britain | 7.46 | 7.64 | 7.69 | 7.69 | |
| 16 | T. C. Yohannan | India | 7.62 | X | 7.67 | 7.67 | |
| 17 | Ronald Desruelles | Belgium | 7.60 | 7.11 | X | 7.60 | |
| 18 | Milán Matos | Cuba | 7.23 | 7.56 | 7.57 | 7.57 | |
| 19 | Richard Rock | Canada | 7.44 | 7.24 | 7.57 | 7.57 | |
| 20 | Tõnu Lepik | Soviet Union | 7.41 | 7.49 | X | 7.49 | |
| 21 | Jim Buchanan | Canada | 5.61 | 7.49 | X | 7.49 | |
| 22 | Jim McAndrew | Canada | 7.45 | 7.45 | 7.48 | 7.48 | |
| 23 | Roberto Veglia | Italy | 7.12 | 7.48 | 7.41 | 7.48 | |
| 24 | Chris Commons | Australia | 7.46 | X | X | 7.46 | |
| 25 | George Swanston | Trinidad and Tobago | 7.31 | 7.40 | 7.29 | 7.40 | |
| 26 | Philippe Deroche | France | 7.31 | 7.38 | 7.31 | 7.38 | |
| 27 | Panagiotis Khatzistathis | Greece | 6.83 | 7.10 | 7.33 | 7.33 | |
| 28 | Brou Kouakou | Ivory Coast | 7.12 | 7.20 | 5.61 | 7.20 | |
| 29 | Calvin Greenaway | Antigua and Barbuda | 6.96 | 6.76 | 6.92 | 6.96 | |
| 30 | Papa Ibrahima Ba | Senegal | 6.96 | 5.21 | X | 6.96 | |
| 31 | Tony Moore | Fiji | X | 6.81 | X | 6.81 | |
| 32 | Rafael Blanquer | Spain | X | X | 6.19 | 6.19 | |
| — | Ghassan Faddoul | Lebanon | X | X | X | No mark | |

### Final

Larry Myricks was forced to scratch from the final after he injured his foot in the qualifying round.
| Rank | Athlete | Nation | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | Distance |
| | Arnie Robinson | United States | 8.35 | 8.26 | X | 8.04 | 8.16 | 7.91 | 8.35 |
| | Randy Williams | United States | 8.11 | 7.81 | X | X | X | 7.81 | 8.11 |
| | Frank Wartenberg | East Germany | 7.81 | — | X | 8.02 | 7.84 | X | 8.02 |
| 4 | Jacques Rousseau | France | 8.00 | 7.82 | 7.67 | 7.91 | X | 7.62 | 8.00 |
| 5 | João Carlos de Oliveira | Brazil | 8.00 | X | 7.76 | — | — | 7.85 | 8.00 |
| 6 | Nenad Stekić | Yugoslavia | 7.75 | 7.81 | 7.89 | 7.80 | X | 7.77 | 7.89 |
| 7 | Valeriy Podluzhniy | Soviet Union | 7.70 | 7.88 | 7.77 | 7.84 | X | 7.66 | 7.88 |
| 8 | Hans Baumgartner | West Germany | X | X | 7.84 | X | X | X | 7.84 |
| 9 | Rolf Bernhard | Switzerland | 7.70 | 7.71 | 7.74 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 7.74 |
| 10 | Aleksey Pereverzev | Soviet Union | 7.55 | 4.89 | 7.66 | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 7.66 |
| 11 | Fletcher Lewis | Bahamas | 7.61 | 7.31 | X | Did not advance | Did not advance | Did not advance | 7.61 |
| — | Larry Myricks | United States | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS | DNS |