When you reach that elite level, 90 percent is mental and 10 percent is physical. You are competing against yourself. Not against the other athlete.

Fosbury made little-to-no use of his arms at takeoff failing to "pump" them upwards keeping them down close to his body: the next generation of floppers would add an arm pump. Photographs of Fosbury attempting heights above 7 feet show him taking off nearly four feet (over one meter) out from the bar. In his junior year he broke his high school record with a 6 ft 3 in (1.

He completely revolutionized the high jump event inventing a unique "back-first" technique now known as the Fosbury Flop adopted by almost all high jumpers today. Richard Douglas "Dick" Fosbury (born March 6 1947) is one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field. His method was to sprint diagonally towards the bar then curve and leap backwards over the bar.