At the 1968 Summer Olympics, three men improved the record a total of five times at the high altitude of Mexico City.

[2] Inessa Kravets, the world record holder, became the first women's champion 100 years later at the Atlanta Games.

Viktor Saneyev is the event's most successful athlete as he was Olympic champion three times consecutively from 1968 to 1976, as well as runner-up in 1980.

Saneyev, Vilho Tuulos and Olga Rypakova are the only three athletes to have won more than two Olympic medals in the event.

In 1900 and 1904 a variation of the event was contested at the Olympics where athletes had to triple jump from a standing position.