World Athletics Championships 2025: What is the countback rule in high jump?
High jump is one of two vertical events in the World Athletics Championships, along with pole vault. The athlete with the highest possible vertical jump from the ground without dislodging a bar wins the contest.
The countback rule comes into effect as a tie-breaker when two or more athletes clear the same height in a high jump contest.
The athlete with the fewest failed jumps before the last successful height is considered the winner of the tie-breaker. In case the number of failed attempts between two or more athletes remains the same, the competition moves into a jump-off.
The jump-off was made optional in 2009, which meant athletes could share medals if they cleared the same distance with the same number of failed attempts.
Most notably, the rule came into effect during the Tokyo 2020 final when Qatar’s Mutaz Essa Barshim and Italy’s Gianmarco Tamberi opted to share gold.
Published on Sep 16, 2025