The American Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the high jump with a technique that became known as the Fosbury Flop, has died at the age of 76.
Dick Fosbury is an American former high jumper who revolutionized the sport with his unconventional technique known as the Fosbury Flop. Born on March 6, 1947, in Portland, Oregon, Fosbury began his athletic career as a basketball player, but he soon discovered his talent for high jumping.
Before Fosbury’s innovation, the dominant technique in high jumping was the straddle, which involved jumping face-down over the bar and kicking the legs over one at a time. However, Fosbury found this technique difficult and uncomfortable and began experimenting with a new method.
His technique involved approaching the bar with a curved run and jumping with his back to the bar, arching his body over it and landing on his back. This allowed him to clear the bar at much higher heights than before, and in 1968 he won the gold medal at the Mexico City Olympics with a jump of 2.24 meters (7 feet 4 1/4 inches).
The Fosbury Flop quickly became the dominant technique in high jumping, and Fosbury’s success inspired many other athletes to adopt the new approach. Today, virtually all high jumpers use some variation of the Fosbury Flop.
After his Olympic triumph, Fosbury went on to study civil engineering at Oregon State University and later worked as an engineer in Idaho. He continued to be involved in athletics as a coach and administrator, and in 2018 he was inducted into the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Hall of Fame.
