World record holder Javier Sotomayor of Cuba captured his second World Championship gold medal in the high jump. It was his fifth appearance in the championships, and his fourth medal overall.
Steinar Hoen of Norway, Konstantin Matusevich of Israel, Lambros Papakostas of Greece, and Artur Partyka of Poland shared the lead at 2.29, a height that Sotomayor passed.
At 2.32, Partyka passed, and Sotomayor cleared with his first try, taking the lead. Hoen, Australian Timothy Forsyth and Dalton Grant of Great Britain also cleared on their first attempts; for Grant, it was his first jump of the competition. Papakostas cleared on his second attempt, urged on by the massive roar of the crowd.
When the bar moved to 2.35, only Sotomayor cleared on his first attempt. Partyka cleared on his second, to take a solitary hold of the silver medal. When Forsyth cleared on his second attempt, he moved into bronze position (his first miss at 2.29 gave Partyka the edge).
Hoen and Papakostas, seeing three already over 2.35, opted to save their one remaining leap for 2.37, their only hope for medals. Grant, meanwhile, tried 2.35 again, and went out.
At 2.37, Sotomayor cleared on his second try, the only one to do so; the leap would give him the gold, though he couldn’t be sure of it at the time. Partyka had already missed twice, and Forsyth once. They opted to pass to 2.39 in the chase for gold. Partyka missed his one remaining try. Sotomayor passed as Forsyth used up his two attempts and went out.
With the gold assured, Sotomayor took one attempt at 2.41, then decided to call it a night
