Olympic high jumper visits Sisters

The path to becoming an Olympic gold medalist can take quite a few twists and turns, but seldom does an athlete create a technique largely on his own that leads him to the heights of Olympic glory.

Such is the case for Dick Fosbury, the 1968 Olympic high jump champion, who began experimenting with a new method for high jumping while he was a high school student in Medford, Oregon.

Fosbury conducted a clinic and shared a message Friday, April 2 at Sisters High School as a fundraiser for the Sisters High School track team. The progression from the scissor kick technique to the western roll had been complete throughout most of America, yet Fosbury had trouble achieving success

with the roll as a freshman in high school after jumping 5 feet 4 inches in eighth grade using the scissor.

"In my first meet, I missed at all three attempts at the opening height of five feet, and established myself as the worst high jumper entered in the meet," he said, laughing.

By the season's end, he had not jumped even as high as his eighth grade best, and asked his coach if he could return to his modified scissor kick technique, in which he approached the bar with his shoulder turned toward it, rather than rolling over it face-down.

He cleared a personal best of 5 feet 10 inches in the final two meets of the season and went on to a very successful high school career, topped by a personal best of 6 feet 7 inches and a junior national title which helped land him at Oregon State University on what he called "a very small scholarship."

He had tinkered with the technique throughout his high school years, yet his college coach, a man well-versed in the high jump, believed the western roll would bring Fosbury the best chances of success.

It didn't.

Finally, the coach agreed to observe Fosbury and help him perfect his new-fangled technique, that ultimately became known as the "Fosbury Flop" which is used today by high jumpers throughout the world.

Fosbury showed film of his high school years and also included clips from the Olympic final in Mexico City where he did not miss a height until securing the gold, with a leap of 7 feet 4.25 inches.

His Olympic victory turned out to be the high point of his athletic career that also included two NCAA titles, and he found himself needing to refocus after nearly flunking out of engineering school at Oregon State.

"They told me that I could continue in the engineering program on the condition that I cease competing, since it was obvious I could only focus on one thing at a time," he said.

He ultimately completed his engineering degree at OSU and returned to competitive jumping for a short time. He missed out in qualifying for the Olympic Trials for 1972, but competed for a couple of years afterwards during the infancy of professional track and

field.

After a long career as an engineer in Idaho, Fosbury has become ambassador, along with other former Olympic athletes, to promote the value and virtues of the Olympic movement.

His son lives in Bend, so he combined a trip to Central Oregon after being asked to speak by the Outlaws' head track coach, Bob Johnson, who was also a national-level athlete at Oregon State.

Fosbury shared a video of Olympic highlights and spoke to the students about becoming the best they can be in life.

"It's not all about winning, it's the journey," he said.

He encouraged young people to tap into the "four sources" for guidance and encouragement.

"Listen to the four sources," he said. "Your parents, your coaches and teachers, yourself, and to God."

Through it all, Fosbury showed a tremendous love for the sport and a thankfulness for what he was able to achieve.

"I truly feel blessed for the gift I was given and how it has shaped my life as a person," he said.