The evolution from the Western Roll and Straddle to the Fosbury Flop wasn’t just about style; it was about physics. The Western Roll favored power jumpers, athletes with strong vertical force and the ability to convert that strength into lift. In this technique, the jumper drives the takeoff leg hard and stays more upright through the plant, keeping a higher center of mass over the bar path. The movement is explosive and linear, with the body traveling up and over rather than around the bar. The

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How the Fosbury Flop changed the high jump at the Olympics