High jump
History

The first recorded high jump event took place in Scotland in the 19th century. Early jumpers used either an elaborate straight-on approach or a scissors technique. In later years, the bar was approached diagonally, and the jumper threw first the inside leg and then the other over the bar in a scissoring motion.

Around the turn of the 20th century, techniques began to change, beginning with the Irish-American Michael Sweeney's Eastern cut-off as a variation of the scissors technique. By taking off as in the scissors method, extending his spine and flattening out over the bar, Sweeney raised the world record to 1.97 m (6 ft 5 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) in 1895. Even in 1948, John Winter of Australia won the gold medal of the 1948 London Olympics with this style. Besides, one of the most successful female high jumpers, Iolanda Balaș of Romania, used this style to dominate women's high jump for about 10 years until her retirement in 1967.

Another American, George Horine, developed an even more efficient technique, the Western roll. In this style, the bar again is approached on a diagonal, but the inner leg is used for the take-off, while the outer leg is thrust up to lead the body sideways over the bar. Horine increased the world standard to 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) in 1912. His technique was predominant through the 1936 Berlin Olympics, in which the event was won by Cornelius Johnson at 2.03 m (6 ft 7 + 3 ⁄ 4 in).

American and Soviet jumpers were the most successful for the next four decades, and they pioneered the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll but rotated their torso, belly-down, around the bar, obtaining the most efficient and highest clearance up to that time. Straddle jumper Charles Dumas was the first to clear 7 ft (2.13m), in 1956. American John Thomas pushed the world mark to 2.23 m (7 ft 3 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) in 1960. Valeriy Brumel of the Soviet Union took over the event for the next four years, radically speeding up his approach run. He took the record up to 2.28 m (7 ft 5 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) and won the gold medal of the 1964 Tokyo Olympics, before a motorcycle accident ended his career in 1965.

American coaches, including two-time NCAA champion Frank Costello of the University of Maryland, flocked to Russia to learn from Brumel and his coaches like Vladimir Dyachkov. However, it would be a solitary innovator at Oregon State University, Dick Fosbury, who would bring the high jump into the next century.

Taking advantage of the raised, softer, artificially-cushioned landing areas that were in use by then, Fosbury added a new twist to the outmoded Eastern cut-off. He directed himself over the bar head and shoulders first, going over on his back and landing in a fashion that would likely have resulted in serious injury in the old ground-level landing pits, which were usually filled with sawdust or sand mixtures. Around the same time, Debbie Brill independently came up with the same technique, which she called the 'Brill Bend'.

Since Fosbury used his new style, called the Fosbury flop, to win the gold medal of the 1968 Mexico Olympics, its use spread quickly, and soon "floppers" were dominating international high jump competitions. The first flopper setting a world record was the American Dwight Stones, who cleared 2.30 m (7 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) in 1973. In the female side, the 16-year-old flopper Ulrike Meyfarth from West Germany won the gold medal of the 1972 Munich Olympics at 1.92 m (6 ft 3 + 1 ⁄ 2 in), which tied the women's world record at that time (held by the Austrian straddler Ilona Gusenbauer a year before). However, it was not until 1978 when a flopper, Sara Simeoni of Italy, broke the women's world record.

Successful high jumpers following Fosbury's lead also included the rival of Dwight Stones, 1.73 metres (5 ft 8 in) -tall Franklin Jacobs of Paterson, New Jersey, who cleared 2.32 m (7 ft 7 + 1 ⁄ 4 in), 0.59 metres (1 ft 11 in) over his head (a feat equalled 27 years later by Stefan Holm of Sweden); Chinese record-setters Ni-chi Chin and Zhu Jianhua; Germans Gerd Wessig and Dietmar Mögenburg; Swedish Olympic medalist and former world record holder Patrik Sjöberg; female jumpers Ulrike Meyfarth of West Germany and Sara Simeoni of Italy.

In spite of this, the straddle technique did not disappear at once. In 1977, the 18-year-old Soviet straddler Vladimir Yashchenko set a new world record 2.33 m (7 ft 7 + 1 ⁄ 2 in). In 1978, he raised the record to 2.34 m (7 ft 8 in), and 2.35 m (7 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) indoor, just before a knee injury effectively ended his career when he was only 20 years old. In the female side, the straddler Rosemarie Ackermann of East Germany, who was the first female jumper ever to clear 2 m (6 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 in), raised the world record from 1.95 m (6 ft 4 + 3 ⁄ 4 in) to 2.00 m (6 ft 6 + 1 ⁄ 2 in) during 1974 to 1977. In fact, from 2 June 1977 to 3 August 1978, almost 10 years after Fosbury's success, the men's and women's world records were still held by straddle jumpers Yashchenko and Ackermann respectively. However, they were the last world record holders using the straddle technique. Ackermann also won the gold medal of the 1976 Montreal Olympics, which was the last time for a straddle jumper (male or female) to win an Olympic medal.

In 1980, the Polish flopper, 1976 Olympic gold medalist Jacek Wszoła, broke Yashchenko's world record at 2.35 m (7 ft 8 + 1 ⁄ 2 in). Two years before, the female Italian flopper Sara Simeoni, the long-term rival of Ackermann, broke Ackermann's world record at 2.01 m (6 ft 7 in) and became the first female flopper to break the women's world record. She also won the gold medal of the 1980 Moscow Olympics, where Ackermann placed fourth. Since then, the flop style has been completely dominant. All other techniques were almost extinct in serious high jump competitions after late 1980s.
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