In the early 1960s,Dick Fosbury tried his hand at almost every sport,but never excelled at anything,until, at the age of 16, he turned to the high jump.But when he couldn't compete against the strong athletes at his college using the standard high jump techniques of the time,Fosbury tried to jump a different way: backwards.Instead of jumping with his face towards the bar,bringing each leg over in the traditional straddle method,he jumped with his back towards the bar.