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Javier Sotomayor first made his presence known on the international high
jumping scene when he set an age-16 world best of 2.33m at Havana on 19
May 1984. Unfortunately, the precocious youngster was denied the
opportunity of competing at the Olympic Games in Los Angeles later that
year due to a Cuban boycott. As early as January the next year, in
Paris, Sotomayor won his first major medal in senior competition, when
he finished second at the World Indoor Championships with a best jump of
2.30m. Later that year he finished third at the World Cup in Canberra,
and on 20 July 1986, he won the world junior title at Athens.
In 1987,
Javier won the Pan-American title at Indianapolis in August, but at the
following month's World Championships in Rome, he finished a
disappointing ninth. During that year, he also raised his personal best
to 2.37m at Athens on 20 June. Sotomayor marginally increased this to
2.38m in June 1988, and then at Salamanca on 8 September, not only did
he improve his best to 2.40m on his first attempt, but he was then also
successful on his second try at 2.43m, setting a new world record.
Tragically, Javier was again denied the chance of Olympic competition
less than three weeks later in Seoul, due to another boycott by the
Cuban government.
On 4 March 1989, he won the world indoor title at
Budapest setting a new world indoor record of 2.43m. During the outdoor
season, he was the dominant factor in the event, winning at a number of
meets including the Bislett Games in Oslo on 1 July (see photo above)
with a jump of 2.37m. On 29 July, at San Juan, Javier improved his
world record to 2.44m, and in the process etched his name permanently in
the history books as the first man to jump over eight feet. (Ron Casey)
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