Premises of a champion in the making had been seen when Ukhov won a very high quality Russian national championships with a new outdoor personal best 2.39m, the world’s best performance of the year.

Tonight, it took Ukhov a first-round 2.38m clearance to secure gold, just one centimetre off Charles Austin’s Olympic record of 1996 and the equal second highest ever recorded in the history of the Olympic Games.

"When I came to the stadium this morning, I just wanted to jump," Ukhov explained. "After the first jump, it came very easy for me. I have not seen my wife and daughter for two months. I will call her, and my wife, and grandmother. I will catch the first plane back because I'm missing them."

In a competition which saw the early demise of defending Olympic champion Andrey Silnov and the reigning Daegu World champion Jesse Williams as early as 2.29m, eight men were still in contention as the bar was raised at 2.33m but only two, Ukhov and eventual silver medal winner Erik Kynard sailed over.

The bar moved at 2.36m which proved too high for the 21-year-old American who failed his first attempt before deciding to pass at what would have improved his personal best by 2 centimetres. Next up, Ukhov cleared.

In a desperate attempt to snatch gold from the Russian, Kynard passed to the next height but there again 2.38m proved impossible to master. Next up, Ukhov cleared with his first attempt, again.

Kynard passed again his final attempt and the bar moved to 2.40m. As expected he was unable to clear but having already secured the silver, Kynard became the first American to medal in the men’s High Jump since Athens 2004.

Kynard who was wearing stars and stripes socks declared: "I would have liked to win, I didn't, but it felt good. It was all right. It was the most humbling and greatest defeat I have ever had. Actually, I won't say defeat, it was the greatest loss I have ever had."

"I'm young, I'll be around for a while, I'm blessed and I did my best. I've come a long way and I'm just 21 years old."

For the second time in the history of the Olympic Games – the last time was 20 years ago - three men will stand on the lowest step of the podium and share the bronze medal having cleared 2.29m the first time of asking and having no previous failure on their cards.

To the delight of the 80,000 spectators Great Britain’s Robert Grabarz who had improved his personal best to 2.36m earlier this year was one of the three bronze medallists alongside former World Junior champion Mutaz Essa Barshim of Qatar and Derek Drouin of Canada.

After a superb first half of the season one may have expected Grabarz to be disappointed with the minor medal but he declared: "A bronze medal, I'm over the moon. If someone had said I'd get a medal at the 2012 Olympics I would not have believed it.

"That I've got a bronze medal is incredible. I've come from nowhere. Who is this kid with a medal round his neck? It all seems slightly surreal. I knew I had the talent to achieve it but to make it true is incredible, it hasn't sunk in."

Barshim’s bronze equals his country’s best ever placing and came as a pleasant surprise for the youngest man in the field who was in fact competing with an injury.

"I was not sure when I came here (to London) because I was injured," he confessed. "and in qualifying I did not do very well. But I tried to stay calm. My injury was in my spinal chord, it was a stress fracture and it was serious. I'm not really fit now. I'm OK - 85%.

"This bronze is better than a gold medal. I am very proud and I feel very excited."

The only slight disappointment tonight was that Ukhov, who is now the fifth Russian ever to win the High Jump Olympic gold medal, did not take his remaining attempts at the would-be Olympic record 2.40 but he revealed that misplacing his vest and bib was a distraction too many.

"I kept jumping higher, but then at the 2.33m bar I could not find my T-shirt with my bib, and Andrey had to lend me his.

"I am grateful to the judges that gave me time to look for the T-shirt.

"The T-shirt distracted me, and the medal ceremony, and the camera so I decided to stop. I could have jumped even higher at 2.40m."

Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF

In the end it will be a 14-man final after the judges decided it would not be necessary to continue after only six men cleared 2.29 and nine more were successful at 2.26.

As it turned out the only man who managed to clear 2.26 not to make the cut was Aleksandr Shushtov who incredibly after jumping 2.35 for third at the Russian national was unable to sail over 2.29 today.

The 28-year-old European champion in Barcelona 2010 went clear at 2.26 with his third attempt but a previous failure at 2.21 would end up costing him a place in a final where the three Russians were expected to rule supreme.

But there will only be two. Defending Olympic champion Andrey Silnov did not have one of his best days as 2.29 proved too high but his second-time clearance at 2.26 eventually proved enough for him to advance.

Meanwhile Russian champion and the season’s world leader at 2.39, Ivan Ukhov was one of only two men clearing 2.29 at his first time of asking and looks poised to go for his first gold medal at a major outdoor championships.

Ukhov’s main challenge in the final will come from Great Britain’s Robert Grabarz the only man to have a clean sheet tonight clearing 2.21, 2.26 and 2.29. Grabarz is having the season of his life having broken his personal best seven times between indoor and outdoor and taken the European title in Helsinki this summer.

Other qualifiers at 2.29 included the reigning World champion Jesse Williams of the US, Ukraine’s Andrey Protsenko from group B and Erik Kynard of the US and Derek Drouin of Canada from group A.

Although unable to sail over 2.29, Jamie Nieto ensured there will be three Americans in the final courtesy of his first-time effort at 2.26.

One to also advance to the final Qatar’s former World Junior champion Mutaz Essa Barshim decided to pass to the next height after failing twice at 2.29 but the gamble wasn’t even necessary and the 21-year-old will be the youngest of the finalists having successfully cleared 2.26 with his second attempt.

Bohdan Bondarenko and Mickael Hanani, the European bronze medallist also needed two tries at 2.26 and will be joined by Canada’s Michael Mason and Cyprus’ Kyriakos Ioannou.

Wanner Miller created his little piece of history as he became the first ever Colombian to qualify for a men’s Athletics track and field final and it came on a night where Caterine Ibargüen took the country’s second ever Olympic medal, the Triple Jump silver.

The major casualties tonight included Daegu bronze medallist Trevor Barry of the Bahamas, 2004 Olympic bronze medallist Jaroslav Baba of the Czech Republic and World Junior record holder Dragutin Topic who bowed out of his sixth Olympic Games at age 41 failing to clear his opening 2.16!

The question now is: will Grabarz improve on Germaine Mason’s silver for Great Britain from Beijing 2008 or will gold remain in Russia’s hands?

But do not rule out any of the other finalists just yet especially none of the Americans who will be looking forward to getting the ultimate prize back to the USA, a feat last achieved by Charles Austin in 1996.

Laura Arcoleo for the IAAF