The qualifying round neatly saw 12 men clear the required height of
2.28, with the most notable non-qualifier being World Champion
Jacques Freitag (RSA), severely inhibited by an ankle injury. All the
finalists made at least 2.25, and only two failed to clear a further height.
The 1999 World Champion Vyacheslav Voronin and 1990 European
Champion Dragutin Topić cleared 2.29, but missed 2.32. Leading after
that height was Hemingway, ahead of Sokolovskiy and Nieto. The tall
(2.01) Hemingway continued his fine jumping with a first-time clear-
ance at 2.34 and only Bába could emulate him. Nieto solidified his hold
on bronze with a successful second jump at 2.34. The three-time world
indoor champion Holm was in fifth place after two failures, and then
launched himself over 2.34. A fiery competitor, and the shortest man in
the field (at 1.81), Holm then cleared 2.36 on his first try, and the gold
medal was his. Of the three other jumpers only Nieto, with his last
jump, came really close to clearing 2.36.