Who better to teach Scottish high jumpers the Fosbury Flop than Dick himself
Last updated 01/05/2009 19:02:12
the Fosbury Flop
Olympic legend Dick Fosbury is set to teach the Scottish athletes how to high jump his style in May .
The man who revolutionised high jumping with his back-first technique nicknamed the "Fosbury Flop", will visit Scotland to share his expertise, including the evolution of the skill, in a question and answer session with Bank of Scotland Talented Young Athletes High Jump Squad athletes at the Kelvin Hall in Glasgow.
Civil engineering graduate Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic high jump gold medallist, stunned the athletics world when set a new Olympic record when he leapt a remarkable 2.24m in the rarefied atmosphere of the Mexico City Games and introduced the athletics world to the now-famous technique.
He had disliked the regularly used "straddle method", and at the age of 16 began experimenting with the outdated "upright scissors" method which he then developed to his own specification.
It was so successful and obvious that, today, the "Fosbury Flop" is virtually the only technique used by international high jumpers.
Fosbury, now the co-owner of Galena Engineering, Inc in Idaho, said: "In October 2008 we celebrated the 40 year anniversary of the Mexico City Olympic Games where I won my gold medal. It is extremely flattering that today the high jump technique that I developed so long ago is used almost exclusively by all high jumpers. This is my contribution to our sport and I was lucky enough to have this style named after me.
"I have never been to Scotland before so am really looking forward to my visit to Glasgow next month, and also to the opportunity to share my thoughts on the discipline of high jump with the Bank of Scotland Talented Young Athletes High Jump Squad and their coaches.
"I started experimenting with this technique, transforming the Scissors style, when I was in high school. At that time everyone else was using the Western Roll or Straddle techniques. The starting point of my discussion will be "Why did Fosbury Flop?"