Fosbury Flop

Origins of the technique

Before the 1960s, most high jumpers used techniques such as the scissors, the western roll, or the straddle. These styles required the athlete to clear the bar face down or sideways, and they were generally considered the standard approach to the event. The Fosbury Flop emerged from the work of Dick Fosbury, an American high jumper from Oregon who experimented with a different body position as a teenager and later in his college years at Oregon State University.

How the technique works

In the Fosbury Flop, the jumper approaches the bar on a curved path, typically from a diagonal angle. As the athlete takes off, they turn their back toward the bar and arch the body over it, lifting the hips and then the legs at the highest point. The athlete clears the bar with the back facing upward and lands on the back on a soft mat. The technique allowed jumpers to lower their center of mass relative to the bar, which could increase the height they could clear. Soft landing mats, which became more widely available in the late 1960s, were essential to the method.

1968 Olympic success

Fosbury used his technique at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, held at an altitude that favored certain jumps. He won the gold medal with a jump of 2.24 metres, which set a new Olympic record. The result drew attention to the method, and many spectators and coaches were initially skeptical of a style that appeared unorthodox. Within a few years, however, the Flop had become the dominant technique in high jump at all levels of competition.

Adoption and influence

The rapid spread of the Fosbury Flop is one of the more notable examples of a technical innovation transforming a track and field event. Coaches adapted training methods to teach the approach, and athletes developed new strength and flexibility routines to support the arch-and-lift motion. The technique also influenced the design of high jump facilities, including the wider use of thicker and more cushioned landing areas. Today, nearly all elite high jumpers use some version of the Flop.

Legacy

Dick Fosbury's name is attached to the technique, and it is widely regarded as one of the most important innovations in the history of athletics. The method is taught in schools, clubs, and sports academies around the world. Its success shows how an individual athlete's willingness to test a different approach can alter the standard practice of an entire sport. In high jump research, the technique is also studied for its biomechanics, particularly the way the body's center of mass passes beneath the bar.