Dick Fosbury, the athlete who forever changed the high jump, has died at the age of 76.

At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico, a young student was about to change the history of athletics because… he just dared.

Prior to this, the jumpers of this competition tried to pass the bar at … the forehead, in fact, making “scissors” with their feet. Dick Fosbury, after much work and study, dared to jump back.

A jump that was to become the “Fosbury Flop” and radically change technique, as well as decades of training.

Born in Portland, Dick Fosbury took to the high jump at an early age, though he never really competed with his teammates, who nearly perfected the scissor jump as well as the straddle.

His studies at the Department of Physics and Technology at the University of Oregon was the beginning of revolutionary change. A photo of jumper Kalevi Kotkas from Finland gave him the spark he needed. Then, studying the laws of physics and mass, he realized that, crowning the body with his back to the elbow, the jumper gained height.

In 1968, in the stadium of Mexico, everyone is waiting to see the much publicized radical reception. The 21-year-old American crossed the bar with his back to reach the final with a jump of 2.14. In the final, he will pass 2.24 and go down in history.

After he returned from Mexico with a gold medal, he also hung up his sneakers. He devoted himself to his science, but in 2008 he discovered that he had spinal cancer. In 2016, he entered politics but failed to get elected.

The historic change he made in a demanding competition will forever be remembered.