Dick Fosbury

He died peacefully in his sleep after a "brief recurrence of lymphoma", his agent Ray Schulte said. Fosbury, who won gold at the Mexico Olympics in 1968, ...

"And (it) took huge courage at the time to even consider something so dangerous. "Dick Fosbury was a true LEGEND! My results were getting better." Initially, the idea attracted a certain amount of ridicule, the term Fosbury Flop credited to the Medford Mail-Tribune, which wrote the headline "Fosbury Flops Over the Bar" after one of his high school meetings. The Montreal Games in 1976 was the last Olympics in which a high jumper won using a technique other than the Fosbury Flop. Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the high jump with the "Fosbury Flop", has died at the age of 76.

Dick Fosbury, the lanky leaper who revolutionized the technical discipline of high jump and won Olympic gold with his 'Fosbury Flop,' has died.

“And he had the guts and fortitude to stick with it in the face of criticism.” The term “Fosbury Flop” is credited to the Medford Mail-Tribune, which wrote the headline “Fosbury Flops Over the Bar” after one of his high school meets. “He’s the creator of what we still do to this day.” As a kid, Fosbury threw himself into sports as a way of dealing with grief after his younger brother, Greg, was killed by a drunk driver while the two boys were riding bikes. Due to the equipment then, it was something that was a little on edge to attempt.” Among his discoveries was a need to move his takeoff point farther back for higher jumps, so he could change the apex of the parabola shape of his jump to clear the bar. “I knew I had to change my body position, and that’s what started first the revolution, and over the next two years, the evolution,” Fosbury said in a 2014 interview with the Corvallis (Ore.) Gazette-Times. “During my junior year, I carried on with this new technique, and each meet I continued to evolve or change, but I was improving. It was a convention-defying move, and with the world watching, Fosbury cleared 2.24 meters (7 feet, 4¼ inches) to win the gold and set an Olympic record. Fosbury started tinkering with a new technique in the early ‘60s as a teenager at Medford High School in Oregon. By the next Olympics, 28 of the 40 jumpers were using Fosbury’s technique. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, Fosbury took off at an angle, leaped backward,

Dick Fosbury, the American athlete who revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his 'Fosbury Flop', has died aged ...

“And he had the guts and fortitude to stick with it in the face of criticism.” As a kid, Fosbury threw himself into sports as a way of dealing with the grief after his younger brother, Greg, was killed by a drunken driver while the two boys were riding bikes. Fosbury started tinkering with a new technique in the early 60s, as a teenager in Oregon. The technique was the subject of scorn and ridicule in some corners. The term Fosbury Flop is credited to the Medford Mail-Tribune, which wrote the headline “Fosbury Flops Over the Bar” after one of his high school meets. “He’s the creator of what we still do to this day."

The American Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the high jump with a technique that became known as the Fosbury Flop, has died aged 76.

Dick Fosbury set an Olympic record as he cleared the bar in the high jump event at 7 feet, 4 1/4 inches in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.

I didn't like the fact that I couldn't see where I was going [taking off with her back to the bar] and it took a level of trust between yourself and the high jump mat to be able to jump backwards and know you're not going to get hurt because you'll land on it." He once saw a picture caption in the Medford newspaper, describing him "flopping" over the bar, like a fish flops on dry land. “In 1976, that was the last Olympics when anyone won a medal using anything but the Fosbury flop.” "First of all, stop losing, and second of all, to stay on the team. Fosbury said the situation ultimately was resolved. As he developed the technique, Fosbury said opposing coaches questioned whether it was legal. It was the start of a two-year evolution that ultimately had Fosbury doing a full back layout over the bar, while other high jumpers continued to lean forward. Fosbury grew up in Medford, and his appearance was for a book signing he was doing with Welch. "The marathon was finishing and [Kenny], after running 26 miles, was finishing his last lap," said Fosbury. But the reality of why Fosbury did what he did is far more basic. The room was filled with old high school classmates of Fosbury's and hometown admirers. He'd been on a tour, from Mexico City to his native Oregon, commemorating the day he confounded the sports world.