This Will NEVER Happen Again || The UNBREAKABLE Record of Javier Sotomayor

only 13 people have ever done it a small exclusive club of untouchable athletes who together have managed to jump higher than any other humans in all of recorded history [Music] however one athlete from cuba is unanimously considered the undisputed greatest to ever live it's july 29th of 1989 javier sotomayor steps up for one of the most daunting tasks in track and field before him is a high jump bar positioned at exactly eight feet or the equivalent of 2.44 meters look above you right now you're probably in a room with a ceiling of approximately eight feet and here's the ultimate question do you think you could jump over your own ceiling on this fateful day in 1989 sotomayor would finally achieve this legendary task [Music] this jump was so remarkable that it still has never been matched by any other high jumper in all of track and field history well except for sotomayor himself because almost exactly five years later he would somehow outperform this unbelievable world record on july 27th 1993 he cleared a truly spectacular height of 2.45 meters which translates to eight feet and one half inch this jump to this day some 27 years later has now stood strong against any competition from around the world only being approached by a very select few needless to say this is one of the longest standing world records in all of athletics a moment forever stamped into time as one of the pinnacle moments of human performance but believe it or not when it comes to high jumping greatness this is just the tip of the iceberg for this amazing cuban jumper [Music] it's 1982 in the hot humid sun of havana cuba and frequenting the basketball courts at a local sporting academy is a 15 year old who just so happens to be six foot three this tall stature already distinguished this one athlete as a special prospect in the eyes of many but during one particular pickup game the surrounding coaches and the other athletes saw something that they had never witnessed in the past when going up for a rebound a young sotomayor almost touched the very top of the backboard and his head managed to graze the side of the 10-foot rim this left everyone watching in complete shock and as the following months unfolded the jumping abilities of this teenager were simply too great to ignore one day sotomayor went inside the facility to see just how high his jumping abilities truly were and after a few careful measurements and a few follow-up calculations his vertical leap was estimated to be approximately 43 inches and this was without any real training from 1983 to 1985 the once basketball enthused javier was slowly convinced to give high jumping a shot and despite his early reservations in a sport that was far less popular his talents would soon spark a revolution that would ignite the entire country [Music] at just 14 he managed to clear the 2 meter barrier and then in 1983 he cleared a height of 2.15 meters a mark that is rarely attained by junior athletes let alone someone who had just taken up the sport at this point in his jumping career his potential was almost limitless he was tall he was coordinated he was smart but more than anything his natural abilities were nearly untouchable by 1984 the high jump had become his main focus and after months and months of extensive training in various competitions he managed to jump of 2.33 meters which to this day still remains as the world youth record at just 16 years of age he was already entering the international conversation as a potential olympic medalist but despite his rapid rise to elite level jumping cuba's boycott of the 1984 games prevented him from partaking in the biggest event of that season the reality was that during the 1984 olympic cycle this 16 year old was a real threat to make the olympic podium and even with his lack of international experience his 2.33 meter jump would have tied him for the silver medal at the los angeles games only falling two centimeters away from the gold medal performance after 1984 his successes only continued in 1985 he placed second in the world indoor championships and then in 1986 he placed first in the world junior games with an amazing leap of 2.25 meters by 1987 his personal best had increased to 2.37 meters a height that would have earned him the gold medal in every previous installment of the olympic games and amazingly he was still only 19. as 1988 approached the prospect of earning the gold medal at these olympics were very real but unfortunately once again the nation of cuba boycotted the 1988 olympics which took place in seoul south korea during the 1984 season he was considered a solid metal prospect however in 1988 he almost certainly would have won the gold medal because just four days before the opening ceremonies he would amazingly break the high jump world record this 2.43 meter jump was his very first world record and when compared to the olympic performances that took place just 19 days later he would have won the gold medal by five full centimeters by the end of 1988 he was clearly the world's best jumper and then in 1989 he moved forward into the land of the untouchable and he would forever cement his name as the goat of the high jump at the 1989 world championships in budapest he entered this competition with very high hopes for this competition he was competing against two of the best jumpers of the 1980s patrick schoberg from sweden and daitmore mugenburg from germany through the first few rounds it was apparent that sotomayor was in great form and along with schoberg and mogenberg the new cuban sensation managed to clear the 2.35 meter barrier this clearance now tied him at first place with the other athletes however in the very next round he did this here he comes big approach swirls late big jump there is the leader there is the leader this 2.37 meter clearance was superb with magnificent height and solid execution he pulled off a world championship winning jump just when he needed it the most and while this performance would have already earned him the gold medal he then decided to do this [Music] here he comes powerful approach he's over that is a world record a world record 2 meters 43. with an unprecedented indoor leap of 2.43 meters he had broken another world record and he did it during the world championships on his very first attempt at this height he cemented his greatness against the world's best competition and moving forward his jumping would be almost unbeatable later that same year on july 29th he would break his own outdoor world record with an amazing clearance of 2.44 meters as fate would have it this jump still places him as the only athlete to ever clear the eight-foot barrier after this double world record year he would go on to win his first olympic title in 1992 finally taking part in his very first olympic games following this olympic victory in 1992 he would then set the still-standing world record just one year later with an absolutely untouchable leap of 2.45 meters since 1988 sotomayor has been the official world record holder in this event and since 1984 he has held the world youth record with a jump of 2.33 meters what makes this one athlete so unforgettable was not just his world records but the frequency with which he jumped over 2.40 meters throughout the entire history of the high jump only 13 athletes have ever cleared the 2.4 meter barrier and only 5 have done it more than once however for this unrivaled cuban jumper he cleared the 2.4 meter barrier on 24 separate occasions thanks for watching everyone and as always until next time [Music] [Music] you

Channel: Total Running Productions

Views: 1,026,923

Rating: 4.9149261 out of 5

Keywords: world record high jump, high jump, cuba high jump, olympic high jump, Javier Sotomayor, sotomayor world record, high jump world record javier, cuba world record high jump, 1992 high jum, 1993 world record high jump, cuba world record

Id: v4pnyovicpQ

Length: 10min 4sec (604 seconds)

Published: Wed Apr 07 2021