Sotomayor's stats as far as I know:

2.30 or higher in app. 220 competitions.
2.35 or higher in 91 competitions.
2.40 or higher in 21 competitions. In 3 of those competitions, Sotomayor cleared 2.40 before clearing an even higher bar, which makes a total of 24 2.40 jumps. Obviously, he is the only jumper ever to jump 2.40 or higher more than once in one single competition.

Throughout high jump history, a total of 11 jumpers have produced a total of 35 2.40+ marks. 32 of those marks were achieved from 1985 to 1995.

Source: Stefan Holm's home page - and like Jesse said: Never argue with Mr. Holm

Holm (in 2005) as well as Ukhov (in 2009) have jumped 2.40 since 2000 - both indoors, though.

I was curious about this topic as well.

I went back and checked and found out that Javier jumped a world best 2.33 as a 16 yr old, which is awesome. (did not go to Olympics due to boycott in '84 and missed the '88 Olympics due to another boycott after clearing 2.43 that year) So either he was taking PED's his entire career, or my opinion is that maybe at the end of his career when he tested positive for nandrolone, he was looking for one more shot at glory.

No one will ever know for sure but Javier.


I still feel there is no doubt that even if he had not been the first person to clear 8', he is still the most consistent high jumper in the history of the event.

These are stats from an article by some guy named Sami Zhioua:

192 jumps over 2.30 m
80 jumps over 2.35 m
21 jumps over 2,40 m! (Notice: no one jumped over 2.40m since 2000). (stefan holm has him with 24 over 2.40)


80 jumps over 2.35, which is a mark that would win a lot of competitions right now, is just an incredible amount of clearances at that height.

I know I got a lot of flak for my comments about Andra a while back, but this is the consistency that I was talking about. I truly believe that if Andra could have this kind of consistency and have a breakout year or two and hit that 2.40 mark. He has a chance to be considered in a conversation with the greatest jumper of all time.

I am truly rooting for you and Andra to take that next step.

I was curious about this topic as well.

I went back and checked and found out that Javier jumped a world best 2.33 as a 16 yr old, which is awesome. (did not go to Olympics due to boycott in '84 and missed the '88 Olympics due to another boycott after clearing 2.43 that year) So either he was taking PED's his entire career, or my opinion is that maybe at the end of his career when he tested positive for nandrolone, he was looking for one more shot at glory.

No one will ever know for sure but Javier.


I still feel there is no doubt that even if he had not been the first person to clear 8', he is still the most consistent high jumper in the history of the event.

These are stats from an article by some guy named Sami Zhioua:

192 jumps over 2.30 m
80 jumps over 2.35 m
21 jumps over 2,40 m! (Notice: no one jumped over 2.40m since 2000). (stefan holm has him with 24 over 2.40)


80 jumps over 2.35, which is a mark that would win a lot of competitions right now, is just an incredible amount of clearances at that height.

I know I got a lot of flak for my comments about Andra a while back, but this is the consistency that I was talking about. I truly believe that if Andra could have this kind of consistency and have a breakout year or two and hit that 2.40 mark. He has a chance to be considered in a conversation with the greatest jumper of all time.

I am truly rooting for you and Andra to take that next step.

I don't know what to think either, Jesse. Maybe we should just forget about the past. I love your personal statement on drug abuse, and I think that you and your colleagues have every reason to take pride in your own achievements. After all, as I understand the nature of track and field, the most important record to beat is your own PB, isn't it?

This is a question that has eluded many high jumpers and probably always will. I don't know what to think. The Cuban government said that he was tested positive for cocaine, but does this mean thats what really happened??? Governments commonly cover up drug scandals, ie Marion Jones of recent years, so who can we trust.....only ourselves, which is sad but true. This is the tough thing about our sport. I hate it and it tears me up. I know drugs are wrong and there is no way I could ever sleep at night knowing that I am a cheater. There is much more appreciation for hard work and seeing the rewards, wether you are jumping 4 feet or 8 feet.
As far as Mr. Soto he did jump those heights and they will stand in the record books. Nothing is going to come up now to change that. He will always be a jump legend because of what he did. I cannot say that I know for sure that he was clean or dirty but either way what he did over his career was simply unbelievable.
Good question though msorensen!

I don't know if I am messing with any taboo by writing this - anyway: Besides from being the most outstanding high jumper ever, Sotomayor has been caught for doping twice and had a life-time ban in 2001. Admittingly, he tested negative in the early 90's when he was on the top of his game - but as far as I know, they didn't do frequent out-of-competition tests at that time. Which leaves me asking: Is Sotomayor's world records (indoor/outdoor) any more genuine than WRs set by East German athletes in the 80's? Just asking...

Even better 21 times unreal. The site I have with stats only had him jumping 2.40m 20x but I have never will argue with Mr. Holm. Thanks for the correction.

According to Stefan Holm's home page, Sotomayor actually jumped 2.40 or higher 24 times in 21 competitions.

http://www.scholm.com/engstart.htm - choose "high jump" and "240 club".

Hey penso. Just work through it. I remember last year when my son first began to take jumps he said his legs felt heavy and he did not have any rhythm at all. He had good pop, but he said he just felt a little weird. It took a couple of weeks before he began to feel like himself again.

Just focus on your technique work and your short approach, which is what I did with my son, and you will get the feel back pretty quickly. Remember the old saying "it's like riding a bike". You feel funny when you first get back on, but it does not take long to get back in the swing of it.

Did some technique work today. It was the first time I've jumped in a while, and it was almost like I was beginning to learn high jump again. My form was terrible - I let my hips drop too soon and I felt like I couldn't get "up".

It's probably due to the fact that I haven't jumped in so long so I need to rework some things over. At least my knee felt alright doing several jumps

-Penso