MASON EIGHTH IN HIGH JUMP FINAL BUT CLEARS SAME HEIGHT AS BRONZE MEDALLISTS

Tuesday August 7, 2012
London, England—August 7, 2012: Michael Mason placed eighth in the final of the Olympic Games high jump competition but cleared the same height as three other jumpers that tied for the bronze medal.
Mason cleared 2.29 meters in a competition won in the rain by Russia’s Ivan Ukhov who with 2.38m. Second place went to Erik Kynard with 2.33 meters.
Following were six other jumpers, including Mason, all of whom cleared 2.29 meters. But the tie breaking rule that states the number of misses at the last height attempted followed by the total number of misses in the competition, decides the order of finish for any runner-up position. Unfortunately, Mason had two misses at 2.29 meters while the other competitors who cleared the same height did it with just one or two attempts at that height. Canada’s Derek Drouin took 3rd place along with two others with fewer misses than the remaining 3 jumpers.
But it was a great competitive effort by Mason who has truly established himself as one of the world’s elite high jumpers. Mason will now remain in Europe and take part in the Diamond League series of meets that include the Samsung Invitational scheduled for Lausanne, Switzerland on August 23.