Up until the 1960s, most elite high jumpers used similar techniques
all characterised by giving the jumper the opportunity to land on his or
her feet (or at least land carefully) after the jump was completed.
This was essential to prevent injury because most landing surfaces at
the time were hard sandpits, sawdust or low piles of matting.
But during the early 1960s, the advent of softer, deeper foam matting for jumpers eliminated this concern for safe landings.
Enter Dick Fosbury. As 16-year-old high jumper, Fosbury was a below-average jumper who used the straddle technique. Hungry to improve, he began experimenting with his technique and over the next two years, he improved his high jump height from 5 feet to 6 feet 7 inches. His secret? A new technique that allowed Fosbury to go over the bar backwards, head-first, curving his body over the bar and kicking his legs up in the air at the end of the jump.Fosbury’s new technique was dubbed “the Fosbury Flop.”
Fosbury enrolled at Oregon State University in 1965 and by the Olympic year of 1968, he used his new technique to win the NCAA championships and the Olympic trials. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record at 7 feet 4.25 inches, displaying the potential of the new technique.
Despite the initial sceptical reactions from the high jumping community, the “Fosbury Flop” quickly gained acceptance.
But during the early 1960s, the advent of softer, deeper foam matting for jumpers eliminated this concern for safe landings.
Enter Dick Fosbury. As 16-year-old high jumper, Fosbury was a below-average jumper who used the straddle technique. Hungry to improve, he began experimenting with his technique and over the next two years, he improved his high jump height from 5 feet to 6 feet 7 inches. His secret? A new technique that allowed Fosbury to go over the bar backwards, head-first, curving his body over the bar and kicking his legs up in the air at the end of the jump.Fosbury’s new technique was dubbed “the Fosbury Flop.”
Fosbury enrolled at Oregon State University in 1965 and by the Olympic year of 1968, he used his new technique to win the NCAA championships and the Olympic trials. At the 1968 Mexico City Olympics, he won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record at 7 feet 4.25 inches, displaying the potential of the new technique.
Despite the initial sceptical reactions from the high jumping community, the “Fosbury Flop” quickly gained acceptance.
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