The most basic style of jump is the scissors. This allows the athlete to land on their feet, and is still used by juniors or where the landing surface is not deep enough or soft enough to allow any other sort of landing.
The eastern cut–off was developed by Michael Sweeney, an Irish American athlete from New York, who was the world champion in 1892 and 1895. The next development was the western roll; this was invented by the Californian George Horine, who became the first official world record holder in 1912. The words 'eastern' and 'western' refer to the geographical origins of the respective techniques, on the east and west coasts of the USA.
The western roll was the dominant technique up until the mid–1950s. It was in 1956 that Charlie Dumas, a native of Tulsa, Oklahoma, studying in Los Angeles, revealed the straddle. This was essentially a development of the western roll, the main difference being that in the straddle the athlete crosses the bar face down, whereas with the standard western roll it's the jumper's side or back that faces the bar. Dumas became the first high jumper to clear 7 feet on 29 June 1956.
It was at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968 that yet another American jumper, Dick Fosbury (from Portland, Oregon) revolutionalised the high jump with the technique that was immediately named after him. The Fosbury flop is characterised by the athlete crossing the bar head first, with their back nearest to the bar. The back is arched, which means that the centre of gravity is much closer to the ground than in any other style. This quickly became the dominant style used in the event, and remains so to this day.
© Haydn Thompson 2022