‘Fosbury Flop,’ creator dies at 76

[98valk]

    Dick Fosbury, who revolutionized high jumping with the ‘Fosbury Flop,’ dies at 76

    Dick Fosbury, who used a revolutionary high-jumping style to win the 1968 Olympic gold medal as an Oregon State junior, died Sunday. He was 76.

    Ray Schulte, Fosbury’s former agent, said in a statement that the cause of death was lymphoma.

    Fosbury began tinkering with what became known as the “Fosbury Flop” while he was a member of the Medford High School track team after failing to clear 5 feet, 6 inches.
    At the time, Fosbury was using a conventional, straddle technique in which athletes faced the bar as they jumped. Fosbury, against the advice of his coaches, began successfully clearing the bar by going over backward.
    “I had never cleared (5-6) before and I knew I had to do something different to get over that bar,” Fosbury told reporters. “So, to lift my hips, I leaned back to get my body out of the way. And it worked.”
    Even after joining the OSU track team, Fosbury faced resistance from the coaching staff until he began clearing 7 feet, winning meets and setting records.
    The “Fosbury Flop” still was considered a novelty when Fosbury won the 1968 NCAA championship, made the Olympic team and then brought home the gold medal from the games in Mexico City.
    Four years later, 28 of 40 high jumpers in the Munich Olympics were using Fosbury’s flop. It’s now the default style for virtually all competitive high jumpers.

    https://www.oregonlive.com/beavers/2...ies-at-76.html

[Valkorado]

Like life itself.  Sometimes when you think you're in for a flop, it turns out being a stellar achievement -- and vise versa.

[Jess from VA]

I did a little high jumping in track.  My league was small schools and they didn't all have nice foam rubber pits to fall into.  The sand pits could hurt you.  So no going over backwards at those schools. 

I got over 6 feet just one time, but that was using a pole vault pole.     Poles were prohibited in the high jump though. 

[Farside]

I got over 6 feet just one time, but that was using a pole vault pole.     Poles were prohibited in the high jump though. 

Awww, so you pole vaulted 6 ft. I guess you didn't make the pole vault team! 
   My sister ran track and did the high jump. I remember my dad explaining to my sister how to do what Dick Fosbury had revolutionized. She did pretty well on the girls team clearing 5'6" using this technique. She was 5'9" tall and a good athlete in HS. There was a big foam landing pad maybe 4' feet high to make a safe landing, this was in the late 70's.

[f6john]

I was the poster boy for “white men can’t jump “ so I had to settle for distance running, but no Olympic Gold for me.

[TTG53#1717]

Freshman year of high school, ‘68, they led us into the gym and lined us up to do a “Standing Broad Jump”.
Having been in Catholic School prior to that I had never been tested as such.
I watched a couple guys go before my turn, to get the technique, and then broke the school record on my first jump. At 15 I beat Seniors and after a few more attempts did 8’4” regularly and once did 8’11”.
SO…
Next up was High Jump and the coach insisted we emulated the Fosbury Flop. I was doing 5’4 the first week of Track and the day before our 1st meet we were practicing on the field when rain moved in.
The coach moved us inside and set up the bar in the gym with a double thickness of mats. One guy went and things seemed ok, then on my jump I cleared the bar but when I hit the mats they separated and my  Left ankle hit the hardwood floor and my Tibia tip broke off.

8 weeks in a full cast and still couldn’t jump the next year. I found out I could play smokin’ lead guitar and never looked back.
End of story.

R. I. P. To an innovative Gold Medal winner.