The event was won by 4cm by Lynn Davies of Great Britain, breaking a string of eight straight American victories.

It was only the second time the United States had not won the event, with Sweden's William Petersson in 1920 the only non-American to win before Davies.

The returning finalists from the 1960 Games were defending champion Ralph Boston of the United States, bronze medalist Igor Ter-Ovanesyan of the Soviet Union, eleventh-place finisher Dimos Manglaras of Greece, and thirteenth-place finisher Fred Alsop of Great Britain.

[2] Ghana, Hong Kong, Jamaica, and Puerto Rico each made their first appearance in the event.

The qualifying round gave each competitor three jumps to achieve a distance of 7.60 metres; if fewer than 12 men did so, the top 12 (including all those tied) would advance.