Richard Douglas Fosbury was an American high jumper who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field best known for winning a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Fosbury was a high jump and track athlete from high school throughout college. It was during his high school years that he began to develop and perfect his high jump technique called the Fosbury Flop which revolutionalized the high jump event with this "back-first" technique during the 1968 S... moreRichard Douglas Fosbury was an American high jumper who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field best known for winning a gold medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics.
Fosbury was a high jump and track athlete from high school throughout college. It was during his high school years that he began to develop and perfect his high jump technique called the Fosbury Flop which revolutionalized the high jump event with this "back-first" technique during the 1968 Summer Olympics. Before winning the Olympics Fosbury won the Pac-8 Conference title and the NCAA championship at Berkeley, California, he won the same tittles the following year as well. At the 1968 Olympics Fosbury took the gold medal and set a new Olympic record. His technique grew to become the most popular technique in high jump. He was inducted into the National Track and Field Hall of Fame in 1981 and the US Olympic Hall of Fame in 1992.
