Men's High Jump

The high jump rarely shakes out exactly according to form, but look for an interesting matchup of 6-foot-9 NCAA champion and current U.S. leader Charles Clinger, Sydney 11th-placer Nathan Leeper and '96 Olympic champ Charles Austin.

Leeper looks on form, having won the Seville GP (June 8), where Austin no-heighted, at 7-6 1/2.

That's the same height Clinger, who leaped 7-8 1/2 at the Big Sky Champs, needed to win the NCAA. But in that collegiate title meet, here at Hayward Field, Clinger had to take the event in a nail-biting jump-off with fellow Utahan Dave Hoffman, who was a mere 6-3 1/2 jumper as a California prep.

At the NCAA, Clinger admitted the warm conditions prevailing during the high jump were not to his liking. Although temperatures were in the '80s Thursday, a slightly overcast sky today has cooled the air a bit.

Austin surely will not make the mistake of bringing only one pair of size-too-small jumping shoes to the track, as he did at last year's Olympic Trials.