How Dick Fosbury revolutionized the high jump

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, Dick Fosbury won gold by jumping with his back to the bar. The technique, which looked unusual at the time, is now known as the Fosbury Flop.

Fosbury began looking for his own technique while still a schoolboy, several years before the Olympics. He ran along a curve, turned his back to the bar and arched over it, and then brought his legs over and landed on his back. In Mexico City, he cleared the height of 2.24 meters on his third attempt—it was an Olympic record.

Four years later, at the 1972 Olympics in Munich, 28 out of 40 competitors in the men's high jump were already using his technique.

In the video, this story is retold as a victory over a laughing stadium. Fosbury himself, in an interview with World Athletics, recalled a different reaction from the crowd in Mexico City: they were so surprised that they stopped making noise and watched the jumps in silence.