LOS ANGELES: Athletics legend Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised high jumping with his signature “Fosbury flop” has died, his agent confirmed on Monday. He was 76.
Fosbury’s agent Ray Schulte said in a statement that the 1968 Olympics gold medallist had died peacefully in his sleep early Sunday from lymphoma.
“Dick will be greatly missed by friends and fans from around the world. A true legend, and friend of all!”
Born in Portland, Oregon, in 1947, Fosbury was to become one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field for developing the innovative high-jumping technique which upended his sport in the 1960s.
Prior to Fosbury’s emergence, high jumpers typically attempted to clear the bar using the “straddle technique” in which they would take off face forward while attempting to twist their body mid-leap over the bar.
Fosbury, however, turned the conventional wisdom on its head with his new approach which would become immortalised as the “Fosbury Flop” and remains to this day the standard technique used by elite high jumpers.
US track and field great Michael Johnson led the tributes to Fosbury on Monday.
“The world legend is probably used too often,” Johnson wrote on Twitter. “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.”
Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2023
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