TitleMr.
Name:Dick
Surname:Fosbury
Nationality:USA  USA
Date of Birth:06/03/1947
Function:Athlete
 
Biography:
The term 'Fosbury Flop' is widely recognised as the name of the revolutionary high jumping style that emerged in the late 1960s, and which has been virtually the only style used by top jumpers since the early 1980s. However, the career details of its inventor, Dick Fosbury, have been largely forgotten. Fosbury had employed the 'scissors' technique before he started using his new style as a schoolboy in 1963. He gradually altered and perfected the technique in his early years at college, improving his personal best to 2.10m by the end of 1967. Although Fosbury had some supporters for his unorthodox technique, any potential wider application of the style depended on greater public awareness, and a confidence that a champion jumper could achieve heights in the vicinity of the then world record of 2.28m. Both these conditions were achieved in the most emphatic way possible during 1968 by Fosbury himself. Dick made a major breakthrough during the 1968 indoor season, jumping 2.165m in February. In the early months of the outdoor season, he improved this personal best to 2.19m when he won the National Collegiate title in June. At the final US Olympic trials held at South Lake Tahoe in September, Fosbury just made the team, finishing third with another personal best of 2.21m. At the most public venue possible to demonstrate his revolutionary style, the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, Fosbury beat a top class field in the high jump final on 20 October to win the gold medal with a best jump of 2.24m. Fosbury had reached the zenith of his athletic career at the best possible moment. His best height the following year was 2.19m, and after that he quickly faded into obscurity.
 
Related Database Events:
Olympic Games20/10/1968

         
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