Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics – Men's long jump

Men's long jump at the Games of the XVIII Olympiad
Ralph Boston, Lynn Davies and Igor Ter-Ovanesyan
Venue	Olympic Stadium
Dates	18 October
Competitors	37 from 23 nations
Medalists
01 ! Lynn Davies  Great Britain 02 ! Ralph Boston  United States 03 ! Igor Ter-Ovanesyan  Soviet Union
← 1960 1968 →

01 !		Lynn Davies	Great Britain
02 !		Ralph Boston	United States
03 !		Igor Ter-Ovanesyan	Soviet Union

The men's long jump was one of four men's jumping events on the Athletics at the 1964 Summer Olympics program in Tokyo. It was held on 18 October 1964. 37 athletes from 23 nations entered, with 5 not starting in the qualification round.

The finals were conducted in a rainstorm on a dirt track, with the temperature reported at 13.5 °C (56.3 °F). In the preliminary rounds of the final, the three medalists had separated themselves from the others, but leading qualifier, defending champion, Olympic record-holder and recent new world record holder Ralph Boston was ahead of the previous world record holder Igor Ter-Ovanesyan, Lynn Davies was 19 cm behind. In the fourth round, under improving conditions, all three leaders improved. Davies was only 2cm behind Ter-Ovanesyan. In the fifth round Davies jumped 8.07 m (26 ft 5 ¹⁄₂ in) to take the lead, and Ter-Ovanesyan passed Boston with a 7.99 m (26 ft 2 ¹⁄₂ in). Boston fouled and was now 11cm behind. Boston improved on his final jump, equalling his qualifying mark of 8.03 m (26 ft 4 in) to take the silver.

The qualification standard was 7.60 metres with a minimum of 12 jumpers advancing. Each jumper had three opportunities. Since only 5 jumpers met the standard, the next 7 longest jumpers also advanced.

For the final, the qualification marks were ignored and each jumper received three jumps. The six jumpers with the best marks in the final were awarded three more attempts, and their best mark from all six of the final jumps was considered.