DICK FOSBURY
Name: Richard Douglas Fosbury
Born: 6 March 1947
Richard Douglas ("Dick") Fosbury (born March 6, 1947) is an American athlete who
revolutionized the high jump using a back-first technique, now known as the
Fosbury Flop. His method was to sprint diagonally towards the bar, then curve
and leap backwards over the bar.
Dick Fosbury, born in Portland, Oregon, first started experimenting with this
new technique at age 16, while attending high school in Medford, Oregon. He
found the variety of techniques used at the time—such as the "Eastern Cut Off",
the "Straddle" and the "Scissors"—too complicated.
As a student at Oregon State University, he won the 1968 NCAA title using his
new technique, as well as the US Olympic trials. At the 1968 Summer Olympics,
which were held in Mexico City, he took the gold medal and set a new Olympic
record (2.24 meters / 7 feet 4.25 inches), displaying the potential of the new
technique.
Despite the initial skeptical reactions from the high jumping community, the new
technique quickly gained popularity, and it is almost exclusively used by modern
high jumpers.
Fosbury was an active member of the Theta Chi fraternity at Oregon State
University.
Dick is now a practicing civil engineer in Ketchum, Idaho.
His high-jump technique was named the Fosbury Flop by an Oregon reporter.
Name: Richard Douglas Fosbury
Born: 6 March 1947
Richard Douglas ("Dick") Fosbury (born March 6, 1947) is an American athlete who
revolutionized the high jump using a back-first technique, now known as the
Fosbury Flop. His method was to sprint diagonally towards the bar, then curve
and leap backwards over the bar.
Dick Fosbury, born in Portland, Oregon, first started experimenting with this
new technique at age 16, while attending high school in Medford, Oregon. He
found the variety of techniques used at the time—such as the "Eastern Cut Off",
the "Straddle" and the "Scissors"—too complicated.
As a student at Oregon State University, he won the 1968 NCAA title using his
new technique, as well as the US Olympic trials. At the 1968 Summer Olympics,
which were held in Mexico City, he took the gold medal and set a new Olympic
record (2.24 meters / 7 feet 4.25 inches), displaying the potential of the new
technique.
Despite the initial skeptical reactions from the high jumping community, the new
technique quickly gained popularity, and it is almost exclusively used by modern
high jumpers.
Fosbury was an active member of the Theta Chi fraternity at Oregon State
University.
Dick is now a practicing civil engineer in Ketchum, Idaho.
His high-jump technique was named the Fosbury Flop by an Oregon reporter.