Hall of Fame

Dick Fosbury

Track and Field

Olympian in Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games

Born:
March 6, 1947
Birthplace:
Portland, Oregon
Hometown:
Medford, Oregon
College:
Oregon State University

hall of fame

Dick Fosbury

Track and Field

Olympian in Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games

Born:
March 6, 1947
Birthplace:
Portland, Oregon
Hometown:
Medford, Oregon
College:
Oregon State University
Dick Fosbury revolutionized the high jump. After Fosbury set an Olympic record and won gold at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games, the “Fosbury Flop” became a staple of every high jumper.
SHARE

Perhaps no single athlete changed a sport the way that Dick Fosbury and the Fosbury Flop forever altered the high jump.

Prior to the mid-1960s, nearly all high jumpers used either a scissors or straddle method to their jumps. Then along came Fosbury, who as a high school and college athlete developed a new technique where he approached the bar at an angle and leaped backwards, flinging his head over the bar first.

“Sometimes I see movies, and I really wonder how I do it,” Fosbury later said.

Benefiting from softer landing surfaces throughout the years, Fosbury’s new way of jumping was dubbed the “Fosbury Flop” by a local newspaper and the nickname stuck.

“Quite honestly, there was no model, nothing similar to what I was doing,” Fosbury said in an interview years later. My high school coaches “really didn’t have anything to help guide me, only to encourage me.”

Fosbury in 1968 flopped his way to the first of two consecutive NCAA championships. Later that year, after barely surviving a second round of tryouts, he claimed gold and set an Olympic record with a jump of 2.24 meters (7 feet 4.19 inches) at the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games.

When I got to The Olympics, though, that really was the first time where I began to talk to other coaches who insisted and told me I would never succeed with this technique I’d developed,” he said.

“All I could do was shrug my shoulders and say this is what I do and it’s a game. Let’s go see what happens.”

From that point forward, the Fosbury Flop became the most popular technique in the high jump.

A tribute to Dick Fosbury, an Olympic legend

Dick Fosbury passed away on Sunday, March 12, 2023, at the age of 76.

Listen to this brief conversation between Dick Fosbury and teammate Rey Brown, as they reminisce about the Mexico City 1968 Olympic Games.



MEDAL RESULTS
1968Mexico CityHigh JumpGold

TICKETS NOW

ON SALE

DISCOUNTS FOR MILITARY, FIRST RESPONDERS, SENIORS, GROUPS AND MORE!​
RELATED GALLERY
connect with us
NEXT UP
One of the best swimmers who has ever competed for Team USA, Natalie Coughlin won 12 medals over the course of three Olympic Games (2004, 2008, 2012).
David Kiley competed at five Paralympic Games in wheelchair basketball, track and field, and alpine skiing. He won a total of 13 Paralympic medals.
Michelle Kwan sits as the most decorated figure skater – male or female – in the United States, having won 43 championships.
Swimmer Trischa Zorn-Hudson is the most successful athlete in the history of the Paralympic Games, having won 55 medals, including 41 gold medals, over seven Paralympics.
Skip to content