Dick Fosbury triumphed at the 1968 Mexican Olympics, inventing the jump that is still used today and bears his name
The world of world sport and in particular that of athletics has learned with enormous sadness the news of the passing of Dick Fosbury. The American revolutionized the high jump, inventing the jumping technique which is still used today and which has been renamed after him. He was 76 years old and passed away, as explained by his agent, due to a relapse of the lymphoma he had been suffering from for some time.
Richard Douglas Fosbury, born in Portland in Oregon on March 6, 1947, was an American athletics champion, specializing in the discipline of high jump.
His height, 193 cm, and his tonnage, almost 100 kg, allowed him to be naturally led to the famous discipline which consists in taking a running start and jumping beyond a pole fixed at a given height, to then fall on a mattress.
From a very young age he showed his talent on national soil, winning the university championship NCAA hey trials qualifying Americans a.i 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games.
Precisely in South America, in the five-circle competition, he unknowingly gave birth to one performance which was destined to change and improve the history of the high jump forever.
Before 1968, in fact, high jumpers used to tackle jumps with the so-called ventral stylei.e. approaching the obstacle face down.
Instead, he showed up at the Mexican Olympics and jumped face upwith the technique that is still used by high jump athletes and which has since been called its own Fosbury flip.
On that occasion he easily won the gold medal and set a new Olympic record at 2.24 metres.
The announcement of Dick Fosbury’s death
To give the tragic announcement of the disappearance of Dick Fosbury, he thought his Friend and historic manager Ray Schulte. In a note he wrote:
It is with great sadness that I have to report the news that longtime friend and client Dick Fosbury passed away peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning after a relapse of lymphoma. Dick will be greatly missed by friends and fans around the world. A true legend, and friend to all!
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