The 'Fosbury Flop' changed high jumping forever in the 1960s - and helped the American to gold at Mexico City 1968.
(Tony Duffy /Allsport)
The "Fosbury Flop" changed high jump - and athletics - forever.
Dick Fosbury, the athlete who originated the technique in the 1960s that is still used by modern-day high jumpers passed away on Sunday (12 March) according to the U.S. Olympic & Paralympic Committee. He was 76.
The Portland, Oregon, native captured the Olympic gold medal in high jump at Mexico City 1968.
Fosbury was the first athlete to jump "back first," shifting his centre of gravity and revolutionising a discipline that had been largely unchanged in 50 years as athletes maintained the forward-facing straddle technique. Another 50 years later, the Fosbury Flop - as it came to be known - is still being used.
“I believe that the flop was a natural style and I was just the first to find it,” Fosbury once said.
In a tweet shared by IOC Media, IOC President Thomas Bach said: "Dick Fosbury wrote unforgettable Olympic history by revolutionising the high jump at the Olympic Games Mexico 1968. The Games would never be the same again after he won the Gold Medal at those Games, 'flopping' across the bar. ... He will forever be remembered as an outstanding Olympic Champion. Our thoughts are with his family & friends."
NBC Sports reported that Fosbury was battling a recurrence of lymphoma, a form of cancer, which he had originally been diagnosed with in 2008. Fosbury had just celebrated his 76th birthday last week (6 March).
"Dick's innovative technique of the 'Fosbury Flop' revolutionised the high jump event and forever changed the sport," said Max Siegel, CEO of USA Track & Field.
"His gold medal victory at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics not only cemented his place in U.S. Olympic history, but also left an indelible mark on the global athletic community. We will always be grateful for his contributions to the sport and his impact on generations of athletes who followed in his footsteps."
Fosbury set an Olympic record of 2.24m (7 feet 3 inches) in 1968 as the only athlete using his technique at the Games. By 1972, it was widely used by elite high jumpers (28 of the Olympic field of 40 used it) - and his Olympic record stood until Montreal 1976.