| Date | 31 July 1932 — 14:30 | |
|---|---|---|
| Status | Olympic | |
| Location | Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum, Los Angeles, California | |
| Participants | 14 from 10 countries | |
| Format | Final only. | |
The favorite was US jumper George Spitz, who had broken the indoor world record with 2.04 (6-8¼), and had five jumps over 2 metres in 1932. But he had injured his ankle and would place only ninth. Four jumpers tied at 1.97 (6-5½), requiring a jump-off that started at 2.007 (6-7). All failed at that height and again at 1.99 (6-6¼), but Duncan McNaughton won the gold medal with a first jump clearance at 1.97 (6-5½). This was the first time a non-American won the high jump gold medal.
| Pos | Number | Competitor | NOC | Best Height Cleared | Attempts at 1.90 m | Attempts at 1.94 m | Attempts at 1.97 m | Attempts at 2.00 m | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 73 | Duncan McNaughton |  CAN | 1.97 | xo | o | xxo | xxx | Gold | 1 | |
| 2 | 464 | Bob Van Osdel |  USA | 1.97 | xo | xo | o | xxx | Silver | 2 | |
| 3 | 361 | Simeon Toribio |  PHI | 1.97 | o | xxo | xxo | xxx | Bronze | 3 | |
| 4 | 438 | Corny Johnson | USA | 1.97 | o | xo | xo | xxx | 4 | ||
| 5 | 133 | Ilmari Reinikka |  FIN | 1.94 | xo | xo | xxx | – | 5 | ||
| 6 | 284 | Kazuo Kimura |  JPN | 1.94 | – | – | – | – | 6 | ||
| =7 | 299 | Misao Ono | JPN | 1.90 | – | – | – | – | |||
| =7 | 365 | Jerzy Pławczyk |  POL | 1.90 | – | – | – | – | |||
| =9 | 77 | Jack Portland | CAN | 1.85 | – | – | – | – | |||
| =9 | 149 | Claude Ménard |  FRA | 1.85 | – | – | – | – | |||
| =9 | 459 | George Spitz | USA | 1.85 | – | – | – | – | |||
| =9 | 357 | Birger Haug |  NOR | 1.85 | – | – | – | – | |||
| =9 | 274 | Angelo Tommasi |  ITA | 1.85 | – | – | – | – | |||
| 14 | 392 | Paul Riesen |  SUI | 1.80 | – | – | – | – | |||
| 42 | Nelson Lorenzi |  BRA | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 103 | Rafael Pérez |  CUB | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 58 | Carlos Wöbcken | BRA | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 34 | Lúcio de Castro | BRA | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 222 | Nikolaos Papanikolaou |  GRE | – | – | – | – | – | ||||
| 296 | Mikio Oda | JPN | – | – | – | – | – |
