In which sport is the 'Fosbury Flop' technique primarily used?

The Fosbury Flop is a technique used primarily in the high jump. Instead of going over the bar face-first, an athlete curves toward it and clears the bar backward, landing on their shoulders and back on the foam mat.

American high jumper Dick Fosbury developed the technique while competing in Oregon during the 1960s. He struggled with the conventional straddle style and experimented with a backward approach that better suited his movement. The technique initially looked unconventional, but it allowed jumpers to rotate efficiently and keep much of their body below the bar while crossing it.

Fosbury made the method famous by winning the men’s high jump at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics. He cleared 2.24 metres and set an Olympic record, turning an experimental-looking style into a major technical breakthrough.

The name can cause confusion because the Flop is not a separate Olympic event. It is a method for performing the high jump. By the 1970s, it had become the dominant technique among elite high jumpers and remains standard today.