Dick Fosbury, who revolutionized the high jump, dies – 03/13/2023 – Sports
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Former American high jumper Dick Fosbury, Olympic champion at the 1968 Mexico Games with a revolutionary backhand technique, died on Sunday (12) at the age of 76, his former agent said.
“With a heavy heart I have to announce that my old friend and client Dick Fosbury died peacefully in his sleep,” said manager Ray Schult, citing that his former client had lymphoma.
“The track and field legend is survived by his wife Robin Tomasi, son Erich Fosbury and stepdaughters Stephanie Thomas-Phipps and Kristin Thompson,” added Schult.
Born in Portland in 1947, Fosbury became one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field when he developed the innovative high jump technique that transformed the sport in the 1960s.
The American innovated by creating the so-called “Fosbury Flop”, a technique of jumping backwards over the batten.
“Few athletes in history have made their mark as uniquely as Dick Fosbury,” wrote John Tansley, a former US high jump coach, in 1980.
Fosbury began experimenting with new forms of high-jumping when he was in school, but his new approach first attracted worldwide attention in 1968.
At the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, Fosbury won the gold medal by surpassing 2.24 m in his third jump, a new Olympic record, surpassing his teammate Ed Caruthers, while the Soviet Valentin Gavrilov took the bronze.
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