Women's high jump world record progression

A plaque on Vasil Levski National Stadium, Sofia, Bulgaria, commemorating Stefka Kostadinova's high jump world record of 2.08 m set on 31 May 1986

The first world record in the women's high jump was recognised by the Fédération Sportive Féminine Internationale (FSFI) in 1922. In 1936, the FSFI was absorbed by the International Association of Athletics Federations, now known as World Athletics. As of June 21, 2009,^{[needs update]} the IAAF (and the FSFI before it) has ratified 56 world records in the event.^[1]

Record progression

The event is linked on some of the dates.

Mark	Athlete	Date	Venue
1.46 m (4 ft 9+1⁄4 in)	Nancy Voorhees (USA)	20 May 1922	Simsbury[1]
1.485 m (4 ft 10+1⁄4 in)	Elizabeth Stine (USA)	26 May 1923	Englewood, New Jersey[1][2]
	Sophie Eliott-Lynn (GBR)	6 August 1923	Brentwood[1]
1.524 m (5 ft 0 in)	Phyllis Green (GBR)	11 July 1925	London[1]
1.552 m (5 ft 1 in)		2 August 1926
1.58 m (5 ft 2 in)	Ethel Catherwood (CAN)	6 September 1926	Regina[1]
	Lien Gisolf (NED)	3 July 1928	Brussels[1]
1.595 m (5 ft 2+3⁄4 in)	Ethel Catherwood (CAN)	5 August 1928	Amsterdam[1]
1.605 m (5 ft 3 in)	Lien Gisolf (NED)	18 August 1929	Maastricht[1]
1.62 m (5 ft 3+3⁄4 in)		12 June 1932	Amsterdam[1]
1.65 m (5 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Jean Shiley (USA)	7 August 1932	Los Angeles[1]
	Mildred Didrikson (USA)	7 August 1932
1.66 m (5 ft 5+1⁄4 in)	Dorothy Odam (GBR)	29 May 1939	Brentwood[1]
	Esther van Heerden (South Africa)	29 March 1941	Stellenbosch[1]
	Ilsebill Pfenning (SUI)	27 July 1941	Lugano[1]
1.71 m (5 ft 7+1⁄4 in)	Fanny Blankers-Koen (NED)	30 May 1943	Amsterdam[1]
1.72 m (5 ft 7+1⁄2 in)	Sheila Lerwill (GBR)	7 July 1951	London[1]
1.73 m (5 ft 8 in)	Aleksandra Chudina (URS)	22 May 1954	Kiev[1]
1.74 m (5 ft 8+1⁄2 in)	Thelma Hopkins (GBR)	5 May 1956	Belfast[1]
1.75 m (5 ft 8+3⁄4 in)	Iolanda Balaș (ROM)	14 July 1956	Bucharest[1]
1.76 m (5 ft 9+1⁄4 in)	Mildred McDaniel (USA)	1 December 1956	Melbourne[1]
	Iolanda Balaş (ROM)	13 October 1957	Bucharest[1]
1.77 m (5 ft 9+1⁄2 in)	Zheng Fengrong (CHN)	17 November 1957	Beijing[1]
1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)	Iolanda Balaş (ROM)	7 June 1958	Bucharest[1]
1.80 m (5 ft 10+3⁄4 in)		22 June 1958	Cluj-Napoca[1]
1.81 m (5 ft 11+1⁄4 in)		31 July 1958	Poiana Brasov[1]
1.82 m (5 ft 11+1⁄2 in)		4 October 1958	Bucharest[1]
1.83 m (6 ft 0 in)		18 October 1958
1.84 m (6 ft 1⁄4 in)		21 September 1959
1.85 m (6 ft 3⁄4 in)		6 June 1960
1.86 m (6 ft 1 in)		10 July 1960
1.87 m (6 ft 1+1⁄2 in)		15 April 1961
1.88 m (6 ft 2 in)		18 June 1961	Warsaw[1]
1.90 m (6 ft 2+3⁄4 in)		8 July 1961	Budapest[1]
1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)		16 July 1961	Sofia[1]
1.92 m (6 ft 3+1⁄2 in)	Ilona Gusenbauer (AUT)	4 September 1971	Vienna[1]
	Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG)	4 September 1972	Munich[1]
1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄4 in)	Yordanka Blagoeva (BUL)	24 September 1972	Zagreb[1]
1.94 m (6 ft 4+1⁄4 in)	Rosemarie Witschas (GDR)	24 August 1974	Berlin[1]
1.95 m (6 ft 4+3⁄4 in)	Rosemarie Ackermann (GDR)	8 September 1974	Rome[1]
1.96 m (6 ft 5 in)		8 May 1976	Dresden[1]
		3 July 1977
1.97 m (6 ft 5+1⁄2 in)		14 August 1977	Helsinki[1]
		26 August 1977	West Berlin[1]
2.00 m (6 ft 6+1⁄2 in)
2.01 m (6 ft 7 in)	Sara Simeoni (ITA)	4 August 1978	Brescia[1]
		31 August 1978	Prague[1]
2.02 m (6 ft 7+1⁄2 in)	Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG)	8 September 1982	Athens[1]
2.03 m (6 ft 7+3⁄4 in)		21 August 1983	London[1]
	Tamara Bykova (URS)
2.04 m (6 ft 8+1⁄4 in)		25 August 1983	Pisa[1]
2.05 m (6 ft 8+1⁄2 in)		22 June 1984	Kiev[1]
2.07 m (6 ft 9+1⁄4 in)	Lyudmila Andonova (BUL)	20 July 1984	East Berlin[1]
	Stefka Kostadinova (BUL)	25 May 1986	Sofia[1]
2.08 m (6 ft 9+3⁄4 in)		31 May 1986
2.09 m (6 ft 10+1⁄4 in)		30 August 1987	Rome[1]
2.10 m (6 ft 10+1⁄2 in)	Yaroslava Mahuchikh (UKR)	7 July 2024	Paris[3]

See also

• Men's high jump world record progression
• Women's high jump all-time top 25: outdoor, indoor
• List of Olympic medalists in athletics (women)
• Women's high jump Italian record progression

References

• Sporting Heroes

1. "12th IAAF World Championships In Athletics: IAAF Statistics Handbook. Berlin 2009" (PDF). Monte Carlo: IAAF Media & Public Relations Department. 2009. pp. Pages 546, 644–5. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 29, 2011. Retrieved August 4, 2009.
2. "Elizabeth Stine Breaks World's Record For High Jump On Englewood Field", The Record, May 28, 1923. Accessed August 1, 2024, via Newspapers.com. "Elizabeth Stine created a new world's record for the women's high jump at the Englewood High school athletic field last Saturday afternoon when she cleared the bar at four feet ten and one-half inches. The former record was four feet, nine inches."
3. World Athletics : Senior High Jump Women. Accessed November 17, 2024.