Dick Fosbury – the man who revolutionised the high jump in athletics – has died at the age of 76. Check out his cause of death here.
Dick Fosbury : Died | Cause of death | Net worth
Born in Portland, Oregon, Fosbury started experimenting with a new high-jumping technique at age 16, while attending Medford High School.
Fosbury had difficulty competing using the dominant high-jumping techniques of the period.
In his sophomore year, he failed to complete jumps of five feet (1.52 m), the qualifying height for many high-school track meets.
This dominant technique, the straddle method, was a complex motion where an athlete went over the high-jump bar facing down, and lifted his legs individually over the bar.
Fosbury found it difficult to coordinate all the motions involved in the straddle method, so he began to experiment with other ways of doing the high jump.
Dick Fosbury died
Dick Fosbury, legendary Olympic gold high jumper who revolutionized the track and field event, died Sunday of lymphoma, according to his publicist Ray Schulte. Fosbury was 76.
“It is with a very heavy heart I have to release the news that longtime friend and client Dick Fosbury passed away peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning after a short bout with a recurrence of lymphoma,” Schulte wrote on Instagram on Monday.
Fosbury showcased his signature technique — the popular “Fosbury Flop” — where he threw himself back first over the bar in the high jump at the 1968 Mexico City Games. Fosbury broke the Olympic and US records with a jump of 2.24 meters to earn the gold medal.
At Oregon State University, Fosbury won the NCAA indoor and outdoor championships in 1968 using the “flop.”
“I am deeply saddened by the passing of Dick Fosbury, a true legend and pioneer in the world of track and field. Dick’s innovative technique of the ‘Fosbury Flop’ revolutionized the high jump event and forever changed the sport,” Max Siegel, CEO of USA Track & Field said in a statement. “His gold medal victory at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics not only cemented his place in U.S. Olympic history, but also left an indelible mark on the global athletic community. We will always be grateful for his contributions to the sport and his impact on generations of athletes who followed in his footsteps.”
The USA Track and Field and Team USA offered their condolences to the sport legend.
Dick Fosbury cause of death
Dick Fosbury, the man who revolutionised the high jump, by using his unique technique to win gold at the 1968 Mexico Olympic Games, passed away at the age of 76 ‘after a short bout with a recurrence of lymphoma’.
The cause was lymphoma, a spokesman announced on Instagram. He did not say where Fosbury died.
Fosbury’s claim to fame was a signature jumping style: the “Fosbury Flop.” With a running start at a raised bar, he launched himself back first, seemed to hover for a moment parallel with the ground, and landed approximately on the back of his neck.
The technique has been compared to a corpse being pushed out of a window. Like Fred Astaire dancing on the ceiling, Fosbury’s flopping struck many onlookers as residing somewhere between a physical feat and a joke. At the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City, the crowd oohed, aahed and laughed watching Fosbury compete.
But the last laugh was his:
The high-jump bar kept being raised, and Fosbury kept clearing it. He finally executed a Fosbury Flop at 7 feet 4¼ inches — earning him not just the gold medal, but an Olympic record at the time.
“Even Fearless Fosbury is amazed,” The New York Times reported after his victory. “‘Sometimes I see movies,’ he says, ‘and I really wonder how I do it.’”
Within a few years, the Fosbury Flop was the standard method of elite high jumping. (The current Olympic record is held by Charles Austin, who Fosbury Flopped 7 feet 10 inches at the 1996 games in Atlanta.)
Net worth
According to Sportsworldzone.com, Dick Fosbury has an estimated net worth of about $1.5 Million at the time of his death.