Who holds the men’s high-jump world record at 2.45 metres?

Javier Sotomayor holds the men’s high-jump world record of 2.45 metres.

The Cuban athlete cleared 2.45 m in Salamanca, Spain, on July 27, 1993. The mark remains the highest jump ever officially recorded in the event. Sotomayor used the Fosbury Flop, the technique in which an athlete approaches backward and crosses the bar headfirst with the back facing downward.

Sotomayor also won Olympic gold at Barcelona in 1992 and silver at Sydney in 2000. He became the first high jumper to clear eight feet, surpassing 2.438 m in 1988.

The record is sometimes confused with Sotomayor’s indoor world record, which is 2.43 m. The outdoor 2.45 m mark is the event’s absolute world record.