Lady Gaga and Celine Dion are among singers who have been spotted in Paris, triggering rumours they could take part in the ceremony
Dick Fosbury, the lanky leaper who completely revamped the technical discipline of high jump and won an Olympic gold medal with his “Fosbury Flop”, has died after a recurrence with lymphoma. He was 76.
Fosbury died on Sunday, according to his publicist, Ray Schulte.
Before Fosbury, high jumpers cleared their height by running parallel to the bar, then leaping over with a scissors kick, with their faces pointed downward. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, the American took off at an angle, leaped backwards and bent himself into a “J” shape to catapult his 6-foot-4 frame over the bar.
Fosbury cleared 2.24 metres in Mexico City to win the gold and set an Olympic record. By the next Olympics, 28 of the 40 jumpers were using Fosbury's technique. Today, it is by far the most-used technique for elite high jumpers across the globe.
“The word legend is probably used too often,” sprint great 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.”
ALSO READ:
Lady Gaga and Celine Dion are among singers who have been spotted in Paris, triggering rumours they could take part in the ceremony
The 14-member UAE team of athletes will vie for glory in five disciplines — equestrian, judo, cycling, swimming and athletics
The line-up of icon players includes world No.1 and five-time world champion Magnus Carlsen
Ledecky said there were issues still to be resolved when asked at a USA swim team press conference if she felt races at the 2024 Paris Games would be fair
Thibus was suspended by the International Fencing Federation (FIE) in February after testing positive for the banned substance Ostarine
Australian Olympic team chief Anna Meares said the cases were confined to the water polo team
The 54-hole tournament will be playing for its usual $25m purse, with $20m allocated to the Individual Event and $5m to the Team Event at the Staffordshire course
India's Jeev Milkha Singh says Carnoustie is ‘the toughest links course of them all’