Crazy to think, but I believe that if DF had finished, say, fifth in Mexico...the IAAF would have banned the flop. When he won gold they couldn't very well do that--they'd be denigrating their own medal.
Aesthetically I might prefer the straddle, but a good flop has an elegance all its own. The greatest at the straddle (skip to the 0:55 mark):
Had the good fortune to become friends with Dick while living in Sun Valley, Idaho where Dick was actively involved as an engineer, community volunteer (YMCA, economic development, etc.) and later as an elected official. As other commenters have said, you couldn't meet a nicer guy. Zero attitude about revolutionizing the sport -- just another T&F geek who loved the sport. He was happy to humbly share how his "discovery" happened even though he'd probably shared the story 100's of times before. RIP DickF
Dick was involved in volunteer work, and steering committee for the Simplot Games. He was well thought of by folks who worked with him. RIP.
What's a Frosbury?
I was surprised that he was only 75. I grew up in the '80s hearing about this legendary Fosbury flop innovator. I assumed he was some ancient athletic genius, but he was only 20 years older than us.
I wasn't a high jumper, but I appreciated him because he was the reason we had high jump mats and the ability to nap on them before practice.
Hurdles400m wrote:
Bummer. Back in the day we didn't have pits that allowed for flopping. However, after a 5' 8" staddle in high school, and no high jumping during college, finally, after college a flopper taught me in about two minutes: 1) Run a J curve; 2) drive your right hand up like making a layup. I figured out the rest and latter managed six feet so definitely some improvement. Also note that your belly button is about eight inches from your back. So the current World high jump record is actually about 8'8" for the belly button.
I also got to jump against Dick down at a World Masters Meet down in Eugene. What a thrill. In heaven there is no high jump. That's why we do it here.
I'm not particularly religious, but I think this is 1 instance where God will be tailgating at 'the Pearl' with an old Cloud 9 ready for Dick to roll in. "Well done servant Fosbury, now show me how you did that again."
Talk about prescient. At the NCAA D1 Indoor Championships on Saturday, when the men's bar moved to 2.24, the announcer said that this was an historic height in the high jump because it was Dick Fosbury's winning height using the flop at the Olympics.
I do not follow high jumping at all. Yet I know what the Fosbury flop is and its history. The man will go down in sports history the way few others will.