Dick Fosbury American track and field athlete Date of Birth: 06.03.1947 Country: USA

Biography of Dick Fosbury

Dick Fosbury is an American track and field athlete, high jumper, and the champion of the 1968 Summer Olympics. He is also known as the inventor of the modern high jump technique, now called the Fosbury Flop. Fosbury was born in Portland, Oregon. He first started high jumping at the age of 11 in middle school. The scissor style was easier for Dick than the more popular straddle style at that time. However, even after mastering the scissor technique, Fosbury did not achieve impressive results. Gradually, he began to think about a new way of jumping. At first, he modified the scissor style, raising his hips and lowering his shoulders during the jump. Over time, this technique started to resemble the straddle style, but with the back facing down. This technique significantly improved Fosbury's personal record. By the age of sixteen, Fosbury had developed a revolutionary new jumping technique. But he didn't stop there. He worked extensively on his approach, gradually transitioning from a straight-line run to a curved one, which was characteristic of the scissor style. By the time he entered college, he was clearing the bar at two meters. In 1968, while studying at Oregon State University, Fosbury won the U.S. collegiate championship. It was then that his new technique gained widespread recognition. The technique came to be known as the "Fosbury Flop," a name coined by Fosbury himself, which carried a somewhat ironic character (the term "flop" can be translated as "to plop," "to flop down," or "to sit in a puddle" in English). That same year, Fosbury competed at the Olympic Games in Mexico City, where he won the gold medal, showcasing the potential of the "Fosbury Flop" technique to the world. Despite initial resistance from the sports community, the "Fosbury Flop" gained popularity worldwide. Today, the overwhelming majority of athletes use this technique when performing the high jump. Compared to Fosbury's technique, there have been only minor changes, such as increasing the length of the approach, extending the arm upward (Fosbury jumped with his arms tucked in), and throwing the head back (Fosbury could not jump without seeing the bar during the flight). Shortly after the Olympics, Fosbury retired from professional sports and focused on his studies at the university. Currently, he works as a civil engineer in Ketchum, Idaho.