High jump pioneer Fosbury dies at 76

Olympic high jump champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the event with a jumping technique named after him, died on Sunday aged 76, his agent Ray Schulte said on Monday.

Fosbury won gold in the high jump at the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, where he jumped back first to clear the bar, a technique that has since been named the 'Fosbury Flop' and used by all high jumpers today.

"It is with a heavy heart that I must announce that longtime friend and client Dick Fosbury passed away peacefully in his sleep early Sunday morning after a brief recurrence of lymphoma," Schulte wrote on Instagram.

"The track and field legend is survived by his wife Robin Tomasi, son Erich Fosbury and stepdaughters Stephanie Thomas-Phipps... and Kristin Thompson."