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Javier Sotomayor of Cuba high jumps a world record of 2.43 m

Javier Sotomayor Sanabria is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder.

Javier Sotomayor Sanabria is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic gold medalist, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; his world record of 2.45 m (8 ft 1⁄4 in) makes him the only person ever to have cleared eight feet (2.44 m). He cleared eight feet twice, the first time with 2.44 m in 1989.

Sotomayor is a two-time gold medalist at the IAAF World Championships in Athletics, and also won two silver medals at the competition. At the IAAF World Indoor Championships he won four gold medals between 1989 and 1999. In addition, he won three straight titles at the Pan American Games from 1987 to 1995. He is regarded as the best high jumper of all time.

Historical Significance

Javier Sotomayor Sanabria is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder.

Events Before

  1. 60 bodies are recovered from the Dupont Plaza Hotel fire in Puerto Rico

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  2. Aretha Franklin becomes the first woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

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  3. Astronomers at the University of California witness the first observation of the birth of a galaxy

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  4. Opera impresario Sir Rudolf Bing (85) weds Carroll Douglass (45); annulled in September, 1989

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  5. Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, sparki

    Pennsylvania politician R. Budd Dwyer shoots and kills himself at a press conference on live national television, sparking debate about the boundaries of journalism

Events After

  1. Fall of the Berlin Wall

    The Berlin Wall falls as East Germany opens its borders, symbolizing the end of the Cold War and the beginning of German reunification.

  2. Year of the Young Reader begins

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  3. British comedy sketch series "A Bit of Fry and Laurie", starring Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, debuts on BBC1

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  4. Poland's communist government begins "Round Table" talks with the Solidarity trade union and its leader Lech Wałęsa in a

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  5. NBA power forward Charles Barkley (26) weds legal aide Maureen Blumhardt in Elkton, Maryland

    NBA power forward Charles Barkley (26) weds legal aide Maureen Blumhardt in Elkton, Maryland

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Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on September 8, 1988?
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder. The 1992 Olympic gold medalist, he was the dominant high jumper of the 1990s; his world record of 2.45 m (8 ft 1⁄4 in) makes him the only person ever to have cleared eight feet (2.44 m). He cleared eight feet twice, the first time with 2.44 m in 1989.
Why is Javier Sotomayor of Cuba high jumps a world record of 2.43 m significant?
Javier Sotomayor Sanabria is a Cuban former track and field athlete who specialized in the high jump and is the current world record holder.

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September 8 in HistoryYear 1988