<p>I fancied myself to be a bit of a sportsman in my younger days. And I am talking of days, several, several, moons back. Volleyball, football, hockey, cricket-- I played them all. But it was athletics, be it sprints or jumps, when you were not dependent on many others that I enjoyed the most. High Jump, which, as the Olympics website helpfully describes, ‘you take off (unaided) from one foot over a four-meter-long horizontal bar’ was what I loved most. Soaring above the bar gave me a thrill.</p>.<p>The Russians were the champs in my days–with the dashing Valeriy Brumel being my hero. He set six world records between 1961-1963 with 7 ft 5+3/4 inches set in 1963, remaining a world record till 1971. Our only access to the events themselves were the grainy photographs of the newspapers or that wonderful sports magazine <span class="italic">Sports<br />& Pastime </span>whose demise in 1968 I deeply mourned.</p>.<p>Till all this changed with Dick Fosbury. It was in the Mexico Olympics that he won the gold in high jump using this never-used technique. The Mexico Olympics witnessed several dramatic events: Bob Beamon’s long jump record, the black-gloved fist protest of the 200-m sprint winners. But Fosbury’s high jumping is what is remembered. October 20, 1968, changed high jumping forever.</p>.<p>The Fosbury ‘Flop’, for it was just that, as it became known, involved ‘taking off at an angle, leaning backward, bending oneself into a ‘J’ shape, and going across the bar and landing headfirst into the pit’. When I first saw the photograph of Fosbury crossing the bar in his unique style, I was astounded. </p>.<p>The techniques all of us used were either the scissors, the Western roll, or the straddle--techniques which were not very graceful unless it was Brumel doing it. After Fosbury’s flop, I felt inadequate. I did not so bravely continue with my western roll as did everybody else in those days in India. Coaches had no clue how to teach anybody the flop.</p>.<p>Today, every high jumper of note follows the Fosbury flop. The present world champion, Javier Sotomayor, the first man to cross 8 feet also does the Fosbury flop. As for me, I ended my not-so-glorious athletic career with a whimper -- doing the hop-step and jump. I am still amazed at the sheer daring and ingenuity of Fosbury.</p>.<p>You don’t go around changing established athletic techniques unless you are an eccentric and a genius. Fosbury was both. He has now made his final jump - and I am sure God up there will be asking him to do a few of the flops and wonder at His creation!</p>
<p>I fancied myself to be a bit of a sportsman in my younger days. And I am talking of days, several, several, moons back. Volleyball, football, hockey, cricket-- I played them all. But it was athletics, be it sprints or jumps, when you were not dependent on many others that I enjoyed the most. High Jump, which, as the Olympics website helpfully describes, ‘you take off (unaided) from one foot over a four-meter-long horizontal bar’ was what I loved most. Soaring above the bar gave me a thrill.</p>.<p>The Russians were the champs in my days–with the dashing Valeriy Brumel being my hero. He set six world records between 1961-1963 with 7 ft 5+3/4 inches set in 1963, remaining a world record till 1971. Our only access to the events themselves were the grainy photographs of the newspapers or that wonderful sports magazine <span class="italic">Sports<br />& Pastime </span>whose demise in 1968 I deeply mourned.</p>.<p>Till all this changed with Dick Fosbury. It was in the Mexico Olympics that he won the gold in high jump using this never-used technique. The Mexico Olympics witnessed several dramatic events: Bob Beamon’s long jump record, the black-gloved fist protest of the 200-m sprint winners. But Fosbury’s high jumping is what is remembered. October 20, 1968, changed high jumping forever.</p>.<p>The Fosbury ‘Flop’, for it was just that, as it became known, involved ‘taking off at an angle, leaning backward, bending oneself into a ‘J’ shape, and going across the bar and landing headfirst into the pit’. When I first saw the photograph of Fosbury crossing the bar in his unique style, I was astounded. </p>.<p>The techniques all of us used were either the scissors, the Western roll, or the straddle--techniques which were not very graceful unless it was Brumel doing it. After Fosbury’s flop, I felt inadequate. I did not so bravely continue with my western roll as did everybody else in those days in India. Coaches had no clue how to teach anybody the flop.</p>.<p>Today, every high jumper of note follows the Fosbury flop. The present world champion, Javier Sotomayor, the first man to cross 8 feet also does the Fosbury flop. As for me, I ended my not-so-glorious athletic career with a whimper -- doing the hop-step and jump. I am still amazed at the sheer daring and ingenuity of Fosbury.</p>.<p>You don’t go around changing established athletic techniques unless you are an eccentric and a genius. Fosbury was both. He has now made his final jump - and I am sure God up there will be asking him to do a few of the flops and wonder at His creation!</p>