Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump Athletics at the 1972 Summer Olympics – Men's high jump The men's high jump field event at the 1972 Olympic Games took place on September 9 & 10. The top jumper of the previous year, world record holder and winner of the Pan American Games, was Pat Matzdorf from the United States. But in a surprise, he failed to make the US team, leaving the field wide open. Jüri Tarmak was the last man to win Olympic gold medal using the straddle technique. The more popular and more widely used Fosbury Flop technique was the most common technique used. Top
Iolanda Balaș Her record of 1.91 m, set in 1961, lasted until the end of 1971 (beaten by Ilona Gusenbauer from Austria), when jumpers with a more efficient technique (the straddle technique, and later the Fosbury style) took over. After retiring from competition in 1967, Balaș married her former coach Ioan Söter, and taught physical education in Bucharest. Between 1988 and 2005 she was president of the Romanian Athletics Federation. She was also a member of the technical committee of the European Athletics Association, and in 1995 was elected to the women's commission of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF). Balaș