Kenny Harrison went one better than Willie Banks in 1983 by winning over the crowd and taking the gold medal. The enthusiastic crowd needed little encouragement and clapped every move of the jumpers. Harrison, drawn seventh in the final, managed to
attract a little extra support and opened his account in the final with a foul close to 18 metres. In the second round, he got it right with 17.78 into a headwind. Harrison further delighted the crowd by performing a back-flip when the distance was
announced.
This proved to be good enough for victory, although Voloshin got close with 17.75 at the start of the third round. The Soviet jumper was lucky: not only did he enjoy a following wind of 1.0, he also came perilously close to marking the plasticine.
The bronze medal went to Conley, drawn to jump last as in Rome.