Dick Fosbury, Olympic gold medalist who revolutionized high jump with 'Fosbury Flop,' dead at 76

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Dick Fosbury, an Olympic gold medalist high jumper known for revamping the technical discipline of the sport, died Sunday, his publicist said. He was 76.

Fosbury died after a recurrence of lymphoma, his publicist Ray Schulte said.

The Oregon native was known for introducing the "Fosbury Flop" to the world of high jump. In the 1968 Olympics, he used the revolutionary move to win a gold medal over fellow America Ed Caruthers and the Soviet Union's Valeriy Skvortsov.

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American high jumper Dick Fosbury clears the bar on his third attempt at the 1968 Summer Games in Mexico City. Fosbury won the gold medal with this jump, clearing 7 feet, 4 1/4 inches, which also set Olympic and American records. (Getty Images)

By the next Olympics, 28 of the 40 jumpers were using the technique. The 1976 Olympics became the final Games where an athlete would win with a technique other than the "Fosbury Flop." Before Fosbury’s move became the norm, high jumpers cleared the bar by running parallel to the bar, then using a straddle kick to leap over before landing with their faces pointed downward.

"The world legend is probably used too often," Olympic legend Michael Johnson tweeted. "Dick Fosbury was a true LEGEND! He changed an entire event forever with a technique that looked crazy at the time but the result made it the standard."

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FILE - Gold medal winner Dick Fosbury raises his arm on the victor's podium of the Olympic stadium, Oct. 20, 1968, in Mexico City. (AP Photo/File)

Fosbury started to dabble with the technique as a high