Photo: Raimund Kommer—CC BY-SA 3.0
Debbie Brill
- Born
- Mar 10, 1953 (73 years old)
- Birthplace
- Mission, Canada
- Events
- High Jump
- Height
- 1.75 m
Debbie Arden Brill, (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian high jump athlete who at the age of 16 became the first North American woman to clear 6 feet. Her reverse jumping style—which is now almost exclusively the technique of elite high jumpers—was called the Brill Bend and was developed by her when she was a child, around the same time as Dick Fosbury was developing the similar Fosbury Flop in the US.
Brill won gold in the high jump at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, and at the Pan American Games in 1971. She finished 8th in the 1972 Summer Olympics, then quit the sport in the wake of the Munich massacre, returning three years later.
She won gold at the IAAF World Cup in 1979 and at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. She has held the Canadian high jump record since 1969, and set the current record of 1.99 metres in 1982, a few months after giving birth to her first child.
As of Nov 13, 2026: High Jump 1.99 (#84 all-time), 1999 season best 1.75 (May 22, 1999, Abbotsford (CAN)) · 73 years old
Personal bests
WA points calculator →Progression
| Season | Discipline | Result | Wind | Date | Competitions |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | HJ | 1.75 | – | May 22, 1999 | Abbotsford (CAN) |
| 1998 | HJ | 1.75 | – | Jun 21, 1998 | Langley (CAN) |
| 1988 | HJ Indoor | 1.90 | – | Feb 26, 1988 | USA Indoor Championships |
| 1987 | HJ | 1.95 | – | Feb 7, 1987 | – |
| 1987 | HJ Indoor | 1.95 | – | Feb 7, 1987 | Dallas, TX (USA) (i) |
| 1986 | HJ Indoor | 1.97 | – | Feb 28, 1986 | New York, NY (USA) (i) |
| 1986 | HJ | 1.97 | – | Feb 28, 1986 | – |
| 1985 | HJ | 1.95 | – | Jul 19, 1985 | Stockholm (SWE) |