The Brill-Fosbury Nexus  Dick Fosbury / Debbie Brill | by Noam Wakrat | Medium

Our first main character is Dick Fosbury, the man who revolutionized the high jump. When I discuss sports and management in my lectures (yes, people are genuinely interested in these niche topics), I often portray Fosbury as the perfect anti-hero. He wasn’t particularly athletic, nor did he hold a world record, yet in 1968, he clinched gold at the Mexico City Olympics with a novel, almost eccentric, jumping style.

Let’s rewind the tape of high jump history. At the “Habonim” school in Haifa, we all learned to leap over a bar using the scissor style. This rudimentary technique dates back to the 19th century. Later, athletes began to arch their backs while performing the scissor jump, a move that made them look somewhat comical.

Fast forward to the 1912 Paris Olympics, where an American named George Horine introduced the world to the “Western Roll.” The name evokes culinary finesse, but it was merely a technical leap forward. Over the subsequent decades, the world record in high jump inched upward, as athletes using this style refined it, improving the record by mere centimeters each time. By the time of the Munich Olympics, the “Straddle” technique emerged, an evolution of the “Western Roll.” This new approach pushed the boundaries of the world record further. Between the mid-1950s and the late 1960s, amidst the geopolitical tug-of-war of the Cold War, the record seesawed between American and Soviet athletes. Then came Fosbury with his groundbreaking method.

Fosbury’s approach, which you shouldn’t try at home, involved sprinting in an arc toward the bar and launching himself with a half-turn, back-first. In mid-air, he would arch his back and straighten his legs to clear the bar. His landings were often awkward, and it’s a wonder this sport doesn’t mandate helmets.

Leave a Comment