2012-08-08

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Veritasium

The strange thing about high jump is that the technique changed dramatically after 1968, when Dick Fosbury used his trademark flop to win the gold medal at the Olympics in Mexico City.

Previously the scissors and straddle had been the most common jumping technique, but after the introduction of safer landing matts, the new unorthodox Fosbury Flop became the jump of choice. There are good physical reasons for this - the style allows the jumper to pass over the bar while his or her centre of mass actually passes below the bar.

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