| Landmarks |
First official
world record: 1.65 Jean Shiley & Babe Didrikson USA 1932
First over 1.70m: 1.71 Fanny Blankers-Koen NED 1943
First over 1.80: 1.80 Iolanda Balas ROM 1958
First over 6ft: 1.83 Iolanda Balas 1958
First over 1.90: 1.90 Iolanda Balas 1961
First over 2m: 2.00 Rosi Ackermann GDR 1977
First over 2.05: 2.05 Tamara Bykova URS 1984Subsequent
record progression:
2.07 Lyudmila Andonova BUL 1984
2.07 Stefka Kostadinova BUL 1986
2.08 Stefka Kostadinova 1986
2.09 Stefka Kostadinova 1987
Most durable world record: 1.91 Balas 1961 (10 years)
Most competitions over 2.05m: Stefka Kostadinova 21 |
| Superlatives |
Most Olympic titles:
2 Iolanda Balas 1960/1964
2 Ulrike Meyfarth FRG 1972/1984
Most World titles: 2 Stefka Kostadinova 1987/1995
Youngest Olympic/World champion:Ulrike Meyfarth 1972 (16) Oldest: Louise Ritter USA 1988
(30) |
| Three all
time greats |
| Iolanda
Balas (ROM): Unbeaten over a decade, she raised the world record in 14
instalments from 1.75 to 1.91m and was Olympic champion in 1960 and 1964. |
Ulrike Meyfarth (FRG): As a 16 year-old she was a sensational winner at the
Munich Olympics in 1972; 12 years later she triumphed again, having set a world record of
2.02m in 1982. |
 Stefka
Kostadinova (BUL): World records of 2.07 and 2.08m in 1986 were followed by the
current mark of 2.09m when winning the world title in 1987, a championship she regained in
1995. |
