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I think of this often. Growing up in the early 70s, a neighbor's dad built a backyard high jump. We used old mattresses and sleeping bags as the landing pad. We spent a whole summer trying to learn the Fosbury flop. Probably lucky I didn't break my neck.
I find it pretty amazing when a new technique becomes so universally adopted that the old ways become completely obsolete. No one will ever attempt the high jump with a scissor kick ever again.
All sports constantly evolve. We'll never see an underhand free throw in an NBA game either. But I think few sport evolutions have been as dramatic and tied to a single moment in time as what Dick Fosbury did.
I guess there's always someone in history that has to eat the first oyster.
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"Rust never sleeps"
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