Translational Motion

The high jump has continually evolved over the years as athletes have gained a better understanding of the physics of the event. While the technique athletes use to jump over the bar has changed very little since Dick Fosbury introduced his "Fosbury Flop" at the 1968 Summer Olympics, prior to his innovation many different techniques were used at the elite level. For example, at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, the scissors, Eastern cut-off, Western Roll, and a primitive version of the straddle were all used by one medalist or another. ... ... However, once the Fosbury Flop was introduced it became by far the dominant technique, with every single men's world-record jump since 1980 utilizing the technique. [To Read More]

When Dick Fosbury couldn't compete against the skilled high jumpers at his college, he tried jumping in a different way -- backwards. Fosbury improved his record immediately and continued to amaze the world with his new technique all the way to Olympic gold. Asaf Bar-Yosef explains the physics behind the success of the now-dominant Fosbury Flop, animation by NEIGHBOR.

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