[1] The event was won by Javier Sotomayor of Cuba, the nation's first victory in the men's high jump.

Patrik Sjöberg of Sweden earned silver, becoming the first man to win a third medal in the event, though he never won gold.

Sweden was only the third country (after the United States and Soviet Union) to have three consecutive podium appearances.

The returning finalists from the 1988 Games were silver medalist Hollis Conway of the United States, bronze medalist (and 1984 silver medalist) Patrik Sjöberg of Sweden, fifth-place finisher Clarence Saunders of Bermuda, sixth-place finisher (and 1984 gold medalist Dietmar Mögenburg of West Germany, seventh-place finishers Dalton Grant of Great Britain and Igor Paklin of the Soviet Union (now the Unified Team), and fourteenth-place finisher Arturo Ortiz of Spain.

[2] The British Virgin Islands, Gabon, Jordan, Mauritius, Qatar, and the Seychelles each made their debut in the event; former Soviet republics appeared as the "Unified Team" and Yugoslav athletes competed as "Independent Olympic Participants".