The high jump is a track and field event in which competitors must jump over a horizontal bar placed at measured heights without the aid of certain devices. In its modern most practiced format, auxiliary weights and mounds have been used for assistance; rules have changed over the years. Over the centuries since, competitors have introduced increasingly more effective techniques to arrive at the current form.
Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) is the current men's record holder with a jump of 2.45 m (8 ft 01⁄4 in) set in 1993, the longest standing record in the history of the men's high jump. Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) has held the women's world record at 2.09 m (6 ft 101⁄4 in) since 1987, also the longest-held record in the event.
