On 12 March, his publicist announced the death of Olympic gold champion high jumper Dick Fosbury, who was noted for modernizing the sport’s technical discipline. He was 76.
Ray Schulte, Fosbury’s publicist, revealed that the actor passed away due to a relapse of cancer. The Oregonian’s “Fosbury Flip” technique revolutionized the high jump. His groundbreaking maneuver helped him beat out fellow American Ed Caruthers and Soviet Union’s Valeriy Skvortsov for gold at the 1968 Olympics.
Within two Olympic cycles, 28 of the 40 jumpers were adopting the method. In 1976, the last Olympic gold medal was won by a competitor using a method other than the “Fosbury Flip.” Before Fosbury’s maneuver became standard, high jumpers would run parallel to the bar, then use a straddle kick to leap over, and finally land with their faces pointed downward.
“The world legend is probably used too often,” Olympic legend Michael Johnson tweeted. “Dick Fosbury was a true LEGEND! He changed an entire event forever with a technique that looked crazy at the time but the result made it the standard.”
As an Oregon high school athlete, Fosbury first experimented with the method. He jumped backward, bent into a “J,” and launched himself over the bar, crashing into the landing pit below.
“I knew I had to adjust my body position, and that’s what sparked initially the revolution, and over the next two years, the evolution,” Fosbury told The Corvallis Gazette-Times in 2014. “I stuck with this new approach throughout my junior year, and with each competition, I progressed further. As time went on, I saw improvements in my work.”
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At first, Fosbury’s method was mocked since he was compared to a fish flapping around in a boat. Yet, the moniker “Fosbury Flop” appealed to him. You could call it poetry. There’s an alliteration going on there. This situation is tense, That’s what he stated before, before that.
You may also see Andysson’s tweet below about Dick Fosbury’s passing:
#FosburyFlop High jump icon Richard “Dick” Fosbury has passed away. The Olympic gold medalist, who created the flop style, turned 76. The death was confirmed by Fosbury’s agent Ray Schulte, who said Fosbury died Sunday morning of lymph node cancer. pic.twitter.com/T5ryvjaMBI
— Andysson (@sarcitwat) March 13, 2023
76 In 1981, Fosbury entered the Hall of Fame for the National Track and Field.
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