One of the greatest innovators in the sport has passed away. Dick Fosbury, who won Olympic gold in the 1968 Mexico City games with his backward style of high jumping, was 76. He was one of the truly great sensations of the last century in track and field.

Prior to Fosbury, jumpers had leaped over the bar in a straddle or “roll” style that had been dominant after decades of “scissors” take-offs in the event. Fosbury, as a high school athlete, worked out the physics of an approach that took him over the bar in manner that allowed him to go over with a bent back followed by a kick upward at the hips.

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