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Dick Fosbury has died of cancer at the age of 76.
Fosbury won the Olympic Gold Medal in the High Jump at the Mexico City games in 1968 with a new Olympic record of 7'4-1/4."
He is best known as the creator of the "Fosbury Flop" - a new technique for High Jumpers where the jumper went over with their back to the bar. Before Fosbury, most jumpers went over facing the bar using the straddle, the scissors or the Western Roll.
The "Flop" has since become the dominant technique for the High Jump.
after his track career, Fosbury worked as a civil engineer.
as someone who watched the '68 Olympics on TV, I can attest that Fosbury was one of the stars of the games. the "Flop" was this radical new technique - but when he cleared 7'4" it became a huge story in the track-and-field world.
Fosbury won the Olympic Gold Medal in the High Jump at the Mexico City games in 1968 with a new Olympic record of 7'4-1/4."
He is best known as the creator of the "Fosbury Flop" - a new technique for High Jumpers where the jumper went over with their back to the bar. Before Fosbury, most jumpers went over facing the bar using the straddle, the scissors or the Western Roll.
The "Flop" has since become the dominant technique for the High Jump.
after his track career, Fosbury worked as a civil engineer.
as someone who watched the '68 Olympics on TV, I can attest that Fosbury was one of the stars of the games. the "Flop" was this radical new technique - but when he cleared 7'4" it became a huge story in the track-and-field world.
