Dick Fosbury

Dick Fosbury (born March 6, 1947, Portland, Oregon, U.S.—died March 12, 2023, Salt Lake City, Utah) was a high jumper from the United States who revolutionized the sport by replacing the traditional approach to jumping with an innovative backward style that became known as the “Fosbury flop.”

Fosbury found the straddle-roll jumping style complicated and did not perform well when he employed it during high school competition. He began to develop his backward flop style at age 16 and found it effective. When he began to compete for Oregon State University’s track-and-field team, however, his coach discouraged his use of the unorthodox method. After trying unsuccessfully to return to the conventional jumping form, Fosbury reverted to his backward flop a year later.

The “Fosbury flop”—which other high jumpers claimed to have developed independently of Fosbury—consists of a curved running approach, a modified scissor jump, and a back layout; the jumper lands on the lower neck and shoulders. This type of landing was initially facilitated by the introduction of padded mats, which were then replacing sand as a landing surface. Using the flop, Fosbury won the indoor and outdoor NCAA championships in 1968 and went on to qualify for the 1968 Olympic team.

Britannica Quiz

Great Moments in Sports Quiz

When Fosbury arrived at the Olympics in Mexico City, his technique was greeted with skepticism by coaches and competitors, but the audience was captivated by the novelty of his jumping style, and by the end of the first day of competition he had successfully cleared each height on the first attempt. The next day Fosbury changed his sport forever, jumping 2.24 meters (7 feet 4.25 inches) to break the world record and win the Olympic gold medal before an international television audience. Although Fosbury did not make the 1972 U.S. Olympic team, many of the world’s leading high jumpers used his jumping method at the Games in Munich. In the years that followed, Fosbury’s technique became the event standard.

After the Mexico City Games Fosbury returned to Oregon State Univeristy, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering in 1972. He competed professionally in 1973 before giving up the sport and relocating to Idaho, where he founded nn engineering company that designed pathways for cycling and running. He was elected to the U.S. Olympic Hall of Fame in 1993 and given the honor of carrying the torch at the Commonwealth Games in 2016. That same year Fosbury was elected to a four-year term as president of the U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association.