Dick Fosbury

High Jumper / Olympian
Date Of Birth:
6 March 1947
Date Of Death:
12 March 2023
Place Of Birth:
Portland, Oregon
Best Known As:
The high jumper who came up with the Fosbury Flop
Dick Fosbury was an American Olympic champion high jumper who revolutionized his sport. Dick Fosbury had trouble mastering the standard high-jump technique, known as the straddle, as a young high jumper in the early 1960s. So instead he began doing the high jump by running up to the bar with his back to it, doing a modified scissor-kick while leaping and leaning over the bar backwards and horizontal to the ground. As goofy as it looked, it worked. Dubbed the "Fosbury Flop" by a Medford, Oregon reporter, Fosbury caused a sensation when he won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, jumping a height of 2.24 meters. The Fosbury Flop has since become the standard technique for elite high jumpers.
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