Defending champion Greg Rutherford of Great Britain took bronze, becoming the tenth man to win a second medal in the event.

The only two automatic qualifiers were the round winners: Henderson in 8.20 m and Wang in 8.24 m. In a low quality display only four athletes went beyond eight metres.

Defending champion Rutherford narrowly reached the final in tenth place after two fouls and a moderate third jump.

Greg Rutherford jumped 8.18 m, Luvo Manyonga 8.16 m, Jeff Henderson 8.20 m, then Jarrion Lawson 8.19 m, all four within four centimetres at a distance no other jumper would match.

American Jarrion Lawson was the top ranked athlete before the Olympics with his jump of 8.58 m and the next best entrant Michel Tornéus was European runner-up to Rutherford.

Other strong entrants were Rushwal Samaai, Americans Mike Hartfield and Jeff Henderson (2015 Pan Am champion), and 2015 world medallists Fabrice Lapierre and Wang Jianan.

Prior to the competition[update], the existing world and Olympic records, and season leading distance, were as follows.