Dick Fosbury, high jump pioneer, dies aged 76

Forbury, who gained Olympic gold in 1968, revolutionised the occasion with a radically totally different leaping method.

When foam matting was launched to interrupt the athletes' fall, Fosbury used his new method for the primary time on the world stage [Action Images / Topham]

Olympic excessive leap champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the occasion with a radically totally different leaping method that was finally named after him, has died on the age of 76.

Fosbury gained gold within the excessive leap on the 1968 Olympic Video games in Mexico Metropolis, the place he jumped again first to clear the bar, a way that has since been named the “Fosbury Flop” and is utilized by all excessive jumpers right this moment.

The straddle or scissor leap have been frequent strategies within the excessive leap. However when foam matting was launched to interrupt the athletes’ fall, Fosbury used his new method for the primary time on the world stage.

The American set a then-Olympic report of two.24 metres to take the gold and alter the game perpetually, with an increasing number of athletes trying the back-first leap because the method step by step gained acceptance.

“Along with his groundbreaking ‘Fosbury Flop’ method, Dick Fosbury not solely gained Olympic gold at Mexico Metropolis 1968 but additionally revolutionised the excessive leap. He was really an Olympic pioneer and legend,” Staff USA posted on Twitter.

On the age of 76, Dick Fosbury 🇺🇲 dies.

He's thought-about one of the vital influential athletes in historical past, inventing the back-first method within the males's Excessive Leap!
He gained Gold within the occasion on the Olympic Video games in 1968 with 2.24m. pic.twitter.com/78lQ19OYqx

— oluwadare (@Track_Gazette) March 13, 2023

World Athletics stated in a press release: “Fosbury’s innovation took the excessive leap to a different degree and he remained concerned in athletics all through his life, sharing his information and ability with future generations … He leaves a exceptional legacy.”

The Montreal Video games in 1976 marked the final Olympics wherein a excessive jumper gained utilizing a way aside from the Fosbury Flop.

“The world legend might be used too usually,” dash nice Michael Johnson tweeted. “Dick Fosbury was a real LEGEND! He modified a whole occasion perpetually with a way that appeared loopy on the time however the consequence made it the usual.”

Fosbury’s gold and his contribution to the game additionally earned him a spot within the Nationwide Monitor and Area Corridor of Fame.