Dick Fosbury, a unique high jumper best known for dramatically altering the style of his sport, has died at age 76.
Dick Fosbury set an Olympic record as he cleared the bar in the high jump event at 7 feet, 4 1/4 inches in the 1968 Olympics in Mexico.Bettmann/Bettmann Archive via Getty Images
"They had started to notice me jumping at the early heights," he said,"and then everyone was telling all of their neighbors, 'watch this, watch this.'" "We thought, this is really weird," Garrett said, speaking about the different jumping style Fosbury developed during his high school years. Lifting his hips, leaning back farther, Fosbury soared higher with each jump: 5 feet 6 inches, 5 feet 8 inches, 5 feet 10 inches. It was the start of a two-year evolution that ultimately had Fosbury doing a full back layout over the bar, while other high jumpers continued to lean forward.
"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. . Facial hair was against team rules. Milton refused and was kicked off the team. It led to protests — not surprising during those volatile social times of the late '60s, early '70s. Fosbury waded into the fray.
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