During the exciting 2 1/2 minutes of the men’s high jump at the Olympics that NBC showed, I noticed that nearly all the competitors wore socks that went up fairly high on their legs.
I don’t notice any other track and field athlete doing so in the other disciplines. Is there any particular reason why the high jumpers need long socks? Is it for protection from hitting the bar?
As an aside, I’ve always found this event amazing. I stand 6’5" and I believe the world record is 8’0" (or a little higher) which means that someone can actually jump over a foot and a half higher than the top of my head.
I’ll try a WAG at this one: If the jumper brushes the bar with their leg on the way over, perhaps these socks are less “sticky” than bare legs, and give a greater chance for the bar to stay put.
That was the guess I came up with later. Pole vaulters don’t wear long socks, but they are most likely to knock off the bar with their chest than any other part of their body.
By the way, it’s misleading to say that a high jumper can jump eight feet. The center of gravity is never higher than the bar; they sort of flop over, so that only a small portion of their body crosses over at once.
Mind you, it’s still higher than I can jump, by any measure.