World Record: 2.07m Lyudmila Andonova, Bulgaria East Berlin, East Germany July 20th 1984
Olympic Record: 1.97 Sara Simeoni, Italy Moscow, Soviet Union July 26th 1980
The 15 finalists made 1.90 to qualify, and eight went one centimetre
higher in the final. Ackermann’s Olympic record of 1.97 was tied by
three jumpers; Huntley plus previous Olympic winners Simeoni and
Meyfarth. At 2.00 Simeoni flew clear first time to win her third medal,
followed by Meyfarth with a jump good enough to clear 2.05. She then
cleared 2.02 to become the first athlete to regain an Olympic title after
12 years, and become the oldest (as well as youngest) Olympic high
jump winner. Missing from the LA competition were world record set-
ters Tamara Bykova (2.05) and Ludmila Andonova (2.07).