Jerome Biffle, a former NCAA Champion at the University of Denver, was in second place with 7.21m and Ary de Sá was in third with 7.15m.

George Brown of the United States came into the Olympics having been the best long jumper in the world for the previous 3 years and the third man to jump 8 meters ever.

But Brown's 41 competition win streak ended at the US Olympic Trials, where he barely qualified for Helsinki.

[1] Nigeria, Saar, the Soviet Union, Thailand, Turkey, and Venezuela each made their first appearance in the event.

The qualifying round gave each competitor three jumps to achieve a distance of 7.20 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance.