Fosbury flop

A high-jump technique in which an athlete clears the bar while facing upward and lands on the back. Dick Fosbury popularized it by winning the 1968 Olympic gold medal.

High jump: A track-and-field event in which athletes jump over a horizontal bar without dislodging it. The Fosbury flop is a technique within this event.
Dick Fosbury: American high jumper who popularized the back-first technique that bears his name. His performances brought the technique to international attention.
Olympic high jump: The men's and women's high-jump competitions contested at the Olympic Games. Fosbury's Olympic victory helped establish the technique on the sport's largest stage.
Technique adoption: The spread of a new method through a community of practitioners. High jumpers increasingly replaced older styles with the flop after its competitive success.
Center of mass: The point representing the average position of an object's mass. The arched body can pass over the bar while its center of mass stays below it.
1968 Summer Olympics: The Olympic Games held in Mexico City from October 12 to 27, 1968. Fosbury won the high jump there using his technique.
High-jump world record: The highest officially ratified performances in men's and women's high jump. Elite record performances show the technique's place in modern high jumping.
Sports innovation: The creation and adoption of new methods, equipment, or rules in sport. The flop exemplifies a performance-changing innovation enabled partly by safer equipment.
Projectile motion: The motion of an object moving through the air under gravity, with air resistance often neglected. The athlete's airborne trajectory determines the available time and height for bar clearance.
Straddle technique: A high-jump technique in which the athlete crosses the bar face-down, leading with one leg. It was a leading alternative when Fosbury developed his back-first approach.

Linked from 5 pages