# Athletics at the 1984 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump

The men's high jump event at the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, California, was held at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on 10–11 August 1984. Thirty athletes from 20 nations competed. The maximum number of athletes per nation had been set at 3 since the 1930 Olympic Congress. The event was won by Dietmar Mögenburg of West Germany, the nation's first victory in the men's high jump (mirroring East Germany's victory in 1980). Patrik Sjöberg's silver was Sweden's first medal in the event since 1920. Zhu Jianhua won bronze in the People's Republic of China's first appearance. The United States, which had made the podium in each of the 18 editions of the high jump before the 1980 boycott, now missed the podium for the first time in which the country competed, as Dwight Stones in fourth place fell just short of becoming the first man to earn three medals in the event.

## Background

This was the 20th appearance of the event, which is one of 12 athletics events to have been held at every Summer Olympics. The returning finalists from the 1980 Games were fifth-place finisher Roland Dalhäuser of Switzerland and ninth-place finisher Mark Naylor of Great Britain. Two-time bronze medalist (1972 and 1976) Dwight Stones of the United States, who had missed the Moscow Games due to the boycott, was back, however. Going into the competition, a clear favourite was China's Zhu Jianhua, who won bronze in the 1983 World Championships and who had set a new world record of 2.39 metres on 10 June 1984, less than two months before the Games in Los Angeles. Stones was also a contender, along with Dietmar Mögenburg of West Germany.
The People's Republic of China (as "China"), Hong Kong, and Zambia each made their debut in the event; the Republic of China appeared for the first time as "Chinese Taipei". The United States made its 19th appearance, most of any nation, having missed only the boycotted 1980 Games.

## Competition format

The competition used the two-round format introduced in 1912. There were two distinct rounds of jumping with results cleared between rounds. Jumpers were eliminated if they had three consecutive failures, whether at a single height or between multiple heights if they attempted to advance before clearing a height.
The qualifying round had the bar set at 2.05 metres, 2.10 metres, 2.15 metres, 2.18 metres, 2.21 metres, and 2.24 metres. All jumpers clearing 2.24 metres in the qualifying round advanced to the final. If fewer than 12 jumpers could achieve it, the top 12 (including ties) would advance to the final.
The final had jumps at 2.15 metres, 2.18 metres, 2.21 metres, 2.24 metres, 2.27 metres, 2.29 metres, 2.31 metres, 2.33 metres, 2.35 metres, and 2.40 metres.

## Records

Prior to the competition, the existing world and Olympic records were as follows.
| World record | Zhu Jianhua (CHN) | 2.39 | Eberstadt, West Germany | 10 June 1984 |
| Olympic record | Gerd Wessig (GDR) | 2.36 | Moscow, Soviet Union | 1 August 1980 |
No new world or Olympic records were set during the competition.

## Schedule

All times are Pacific Daylight Time (UTC-7)
| Date | Time | Round |
| Friday, 10 August 1984 | 9:30 | Qualifying |
| Saturday, 11 August 1984 | 16:30 | Final |

## Results

Key
* o = Height cleared
* x = Height failed
* – = Height passed
* r = Retired
* SB = Season's best
* PB = Personal best
* NR = National record
* AR = Area record
* OR = Olympic record
* WR = World record
* WL = World lead
* NM = No mark
* DNS = Did not start
* DQ = Disqualified

### Qualifying round

Qualification rule: qualifying performance 2.24 m (Q) or twelve best performers (q) advance to the final.
| Rank | Group | Athlete | Nation | 2.05 | 2.10 | 2.15 | 2.18 | 2.21 | 2.24 | Height | Notes |
| 1 | A | Milton Goode | United States | — | — | — | o | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 1 | A | Patrik Sjöberg | Sweden | — | — | o | o | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 1 | A | Zhu Jianhua | China | — | o | — | o | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 1 | B | Liu Yunpeng | China | — | o | o | — | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 1 | A | Doug Nordquist | United States | — | — | o | o | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 1 | A | Milton Ottey | Canada | — | o | o | o | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 1 | A | Dietmar Mögenburg | West Germany | — | — | o | — | o | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 8 | A | Dwight Stones | United States | — | — | o | o | xo | o | 2.24 | Q |
| 9 | B | Cai Shu | China | — | o | o | — | o | xo | 2.24 | Q |
| 9 | A | Erkki Niemi | Finland | — | o | o | o | o | xo | 2.24 | Q |
| 11 | A | Roland Dalhäuser | Switzerland | — | — | — | — | xxo | xo | 2.24 | Q |
| 12 | A | Carlo Thränhardt | West Germany | o | — | x– | — | o | xxo | 2.24 | Q |
| 13 | B | John Atkinson | Australia | o | o | o | xo | o | xxx | 2.21 | |
| 13 | B | Thomas Eriksson | Sweden | — | o | o | xo | o | xxx | 2.21 | |
| 15 | A | Eddy Annys | Belgium | — | — | o | — | xo | xxx | 2.21 | |
| 15 | B | Geoff Parsons | Great Britain | — | — | o | — | xo | xxx | 2.21 | |
| 15 | A | Takao Sakamoto | Japan | – | o | o | o | xo | xxx | 2.21 | |
| 18 | A | Gerd Nagel | West Germany | o | xo | o | o | xxx | — | 2.18 | |
| 19 | B | Hrvoje Fižuleto | Yugoslavia | o | xxo | xo | o | xxx | — | 2.18 | |
| 20 | B | Alain Metellus | Canada | — | o | o | xo | xxx | — | 2.18 | |
| 21 | B | Nick Saunders | Bermuda | — | o | o | xxo | xxx | — | 2.18 | |
| 22 | B | Novica Čanović | Yugoslavia | — | — | o | — | xxx | — | 2.15 | |
| 22 | B | Dimitrios Kattis | Greece | — | — | o | xxx | — | — | 2.15 | |
| 24 | A | Franck Verzy | France | — | o | xo | — | xxx | — | 2.15 | |
| 25 | B | Desmond Morris | Jamaica | — | xo | xo | xxx | — | — | 2.15 | |
| 26 | B | Liu Chin-chiang | Chinese Taipei | o | xo | xxx | — | — | — | 2.10 | |
| 26 | B | Lam Tin Sau | Hong Kong | o | xo | xxx | — | — | — | 2.10 | |
| 28 | B | Mutale Mulenga | Zambia | xo | xxx | — | — | — | — | 2.05 | NR |
| — | A | Stephen Wray | Bahamas | — | — | xxx | — | — | — | No mark | |
| — | B | Mark Naylor | Great Britain | — | xxx | — | — | — | — | No mark | |

### Final

| Rank | Athlete | Nation | 2.15 | 2.18 | 2.21 | 2.24 | 2.27 | 2.29 | 2.31 | 2.33 | 2.35 | 2.40 | Height |
| | Dietmar Mögenburg | West Germany | o | — | o | — | o | — | o | o | o | xxx | 2.35 |
| | Patrik Sjöberg | Sweden | — | — | o | — | xo | o | xo | xo | xxx | — | 2.33 |
| | Zhu Jianhua | China | o | — | o | — | o | — | o | x– | xx | — | 2.31 |
| 4 | Dwight Stones | United States | — | o | — | o | — | x– | o | xxx | — | — | 2.31 |
| 5 | Doug Nordquist | United States | — | o | — | o | o | o | xxx | — | — | — | 2.29 |
| 6 | Milton Ottey | Canada | o | — | o | xo | xo | o | xxx | — | — | — | 2.29 |
| 7 | Liu Yunpeng | China | o | — | o | o | xxo | xo | xxx | — | — | — | 2.29 |
| 8 | Cai Shu | China | o | — | xo | o | xo | x– | xx | — | — | — | 2.27 |
| 9 | Erkki Niemi | Finland | o | — | xo | xxo | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | 2.24 |
| 10 | Carlo Thränhardt | West Germany | xo | — | xx– | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 2.15 |
| — | Roland Dalhäuser | Switzerland | — | — | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No mark |
| — | Milton Goode | United States | — | — | xxx | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | No mark |