The American Olympic champion Dick Fosbury, who revolutionised the high jump with a technique that became known as the Fosbury Flop, has died aged 76. Fosbury shot to fame in 1968, when he won high-jump gold in Mexico City after a final that lasted more than four hours. He set what was at the time a new Olympic record of 2.24 metres, a feat that ensured his technique would become the standard. His technique involved jumping backwards and arching his back over the bar, thereby reversing and ripping up decades of high jump orthodoxy.