Fosbury's historic Flop

Dick Heller
October 23, 2007

Dick Fosbury won the gold medal at the 1968 Olympics with his "Fosbury Flop," now used by nearly all high jumpers.

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Never was a Flop such a hit.

As a high school student in Medford, Ore., during the early 1960s, a disappointing and disappointed high jumper named Dick Fosbury began experimenting with a startling new technique. Instead of clearing the bar feet first, he sprinted diagonally toward it, then curved his body and ascended over it backward as his coaches gaped.

Once Fosbury perfected the maneuver, the results were dramatic. As a student at Oregon State, he won the NCAA outdoors title and the U.S. Olympic trials. Then, on Oct. 20, 1968, at Mexico City, the 21-year-old senior was positively golden with a jump of 7 feet, 41/4 inches.