The modern high jump was born in Germany in 18th century as a physical education activity and then developed over time as a real sport. It is part of the disciplines ofathleticsthe queen of Olympic sports, whose roots lie in Ancient Greece, where running, throwing and jumping put human physical prowess to the test. The high jump, present in both men’s and women’s competitions, challenges athletes to overcome, with the sole strength of their legs, a horizontal bar placed at a progressively greater height. It is a fight against gravity which, over the decades, has seen an extraordinary technical evolution, transforming a simple leap into an athletic gesture of extreme complexity and beauty.
Before the advent of Fosbury flops in the 60s of the last century, the most widespread techniques involved bringing the whole body above the bar at the same time with the aim of exceeding it, also setting the center of gravity above itmaking the leap more complicated And inefficient. The Fosbury jump, on the other hand, consists of “turning your back” to the pole by jumping with the foot furthest from it and forming a dorsal arch at the apex of the elevation. The trajectory of the center of gravity completes a parabola and always remains under the rod, allowing you to reach higher heights with the same force used in the previous techniques. Among these, the most used pre-Fosbury were the scissor jumpThe western roll and it straddle.
Types of high jump in athletics
Front jump and scissor jump
The front jump and the scissor jump (late 19th century and early 20th century) in which both legs they were lifted above the bars either simultaneously (frontal jump) or one after the other in a sitting position (scissor jump) with a run-up perpendicular to the bar. The center of gravity of the body necessarily had to overcome the bar requiring great effort to reach great heights. It’s the technique you may have learned during practical physical education lessons at school.
Eastern Cut Off
THE’eastern cut off originated on the east coast of the United States, was a variant of the scissor jump in which the first part of the body to pass the pole was always the legs but the body was positioned in parallel to the rod in order to raise the pelvis more. The technique was based on one double twist: while the torso “twisted” in one direction to overcome the obstacle, a quick “scissor” strike with the legs allowed the athlete to land in balance in front of the bar. It was a technique that required a lot of skill flexibility and also in this case the center of gravity at the top of the jump is above the pole.
Western roll
In style Western rollalso called Horine jump in honor of the athlete who was the first to pass the 2 meters – George Horine, the athlete crossed the bar from the side, keeping the take-off leg folded under the rest of the body. This technique, which followed theEastern cut-off and preceded him Straddlewas one of those used by the medalists at the Berlin Olympics in 1936. Its fundamental contribution was that it did not require excessive flexibility, thus making an effective technique available to a greater number of athletes.
Straddle or ventral vault
The straddle or ventral vaulting it was the standard technique before the advent of the Fosbury jump. The athlete exceeded the bar head first facing downwards, with the body stretched along it, almost “embracing” the obstacle. A diagonal run-up was used and allowed the distance between the center of gravity and the bar to be minimized but still required considerable strength and coordination to rotate the body.
Jump to Fosbury
The American athlete Dick Fosbury revolutionized the high jump with a brilliant technique, the “Fosbury Flop”, with which he won gold at the Mexico City Olympics in 1968. Born from his difficulty with traditional styles and made safe by the introduction of foam mattressesessential for his landing on his back, his innovation is based on a fundamental physical principle. The secret to the efficiency of this style lies in center of gravity: thanks todorsal arch that the body forms above the bar, the athlete manages to overcome it while his center of mass, at that moment, passes below it. This biomechanical advantage, which allows reach greater heights compared to previous techniques where the center of gravity had to overcome the obstacle, it led to its rapid and almost total adoption in sport.
