His iconoclastic, defiantly original manner fit the times, when all of the old templates were being smashed: Tanks in Prague, assassinations and riots, Apollo 8 circling the dark side of the moon, the summer of love. The whole world had decided maybe we could do things a little differently. If there were a horoscope for the year 1968, it might have been \u201chang on.\u201d<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n So we weren\u2019t the least bit surprised when Bill Cosby, a closet high jumper himself (he jumped for Temple\u2013\u201cI\u2019m not telling you how high\u2013it\u2019s like asking a woman her age\u2013I\u2019m just not going to tell you\u201d), minutes after we emailed him to ask for a little help interviewing Dick Fosbury, who\u2019s coming to Maine this summer to host the Dick Fosbury Track Camp at Bowdoin College, called us up. At 5:15 p.m. <\/span><\/p>\n \u201cAsk him, \u2018Do you remember being on the Tonight Show<\/em>?\u2019\u201d Cosby says. \u201cI think in those days they did it in New York City. I don\u2019t remember if I was the host or it was Johnny. I don\u2019t remember anyone else high jumping on the Tonight Show [in fact, both Cosby and Johnny Carson jumped right on stage] because he was brilliant on the Tonight Show<\/em>\u2013he was this new guy who cleared seven-foot-something\u2026that\u2019s a tough thing to do\u2013the surface was linoleum or something.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Dick Fosbury<\/strong>: Of course. It was a highlight of my life, to jump with you and Johnny. It was in Burbank Studios, and Johnny cleared 4 feet even. After you jumped, I took my mark, ran at the bar, and fell on my butt. Johnny was petrified, but I dusted off my shoes with a damp rag and then cleared 6’8″ in sweats. Johnny felt so guilty he let me stay on the couch for most of the show, with Raquel Welch, Carol Burnette, and Rod Serling. It was memorable, even being a \u2018Flop.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n The next week, I was jumping on the Merv Griffin Show<\/em>, outside on the streets of Philly. Merv jumped 4′ 1″ to beat Johnny. We needed a jump-off!<\/span><\/p>\n Bill Cosby<\/strong>:<\/strong><\/span> Ask him, \u2018tell us about the way you changed things.\u2019 Historically, his ability, his style\u2013it was determined in those days what anatomical part of the body could go over first so the bar was legally cleared. When you read that description, it did not allow for the clearance Dick was doing\u2013you were not allowed to clear the bar head-first; he had to modify how he did it. So\u2026\u2019how did you modify it?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n Fosbury<\/strong>: You\u2019re remembering the old rules from the \u201840s, which restricted the jumpers\u2019 style clearing the bar. That was why Babe Didrikson got silver at the Games when she cleared the winning height but it was disallowed. I never had those restrictions by the time I came along.<\/span><\/p>\n Cosby<\/strong>: People were trying to jump like Dick early on but had been disqualified. Ask him, \u2018Were there people who tried to declare you non-gratis while you were climbing and going higher and higher? Were there people saying to you that you were doing it illegally?\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n <\/span><\/p>\n Fosbury<\/strong>: Some of the old coaches were checking the rulebook and asking the judges for an opinion, but I was OK. The only rule was that the jumper could only jump off one leg; still true today. <\/span><\/p>\n [By the way,] Bill Cosby\u2019s no closet track star, as anyone knows who has been to the Penn Relays, or who reads Track & Field News<\/em>. He\u2019s a great fan, loves the sport.<\/span><\/p>\n It\u2019s great that you\u2019re making a stop in Maine this summer from June 17 to July 1 to run the \u201cDick Fosbury Old School, New Era Track Camp\u201d at Bowdoin College. How\u2019d this popular annual event come about?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, Peter [Slovenski, Bowdoin College track coach] called me. Willie Davenport had come the year before, and Willie had recommended me. We talked on the phone, Peter gave me his pitch about the concept of the camp, and I was sold. I\u2019d always done clinics since coming home from the Games in \u201868, so the only thing new was to stay for a week and work. Once I made it through that first week, I was hooked\u2026It was a working vacation for me, and we all got along really well. Plus, [Peter and his brother, Paul,] let me sing in the band\u2013the \u201cParty Killers,\u201d singing the classics from the 50s and 60s.<\/span><\/p>\n I had no preconceptions about Maine before I first came here. Maybe \u2018the Maine woods.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n We all stay at the dorms at Bowdoin, or at Slovenski\u2019s home. I\u2019ve been to [DiMillo\u2019s in Portland, Cook\u2019s Lobster House on Bailey Island,] \u201cBah Harhbuh,\u201d [and] water skied on many ponds around Lewiston-Auburn. <\/span><\/p>\n How do you stay fit as an engineer?<\/strong><\/p>\n You don\u2019t, excepting working on big projects out of doors. I\u2019m a licensed surveyor and used to hike and climb a lot in the local mountains, carrying equipment. That works. Otherwise, I go to the gym.<\/span><\/p>\n When was the last time you ate your Wheaties? More specifically, do you have a special diet that you follow?<\/strong><\/p>\n I have eaten cereal since I was a child; I can\u2019t go without it. Hot or cold.<\/span><\/p>\n Today, I pay attention to a balanced diet; vegetables, meats or other proteins, and fruits. I have a Jack LaLanne juicer that I love, when I can\u2019t get enough veggies (carrot\/apples\/celery\/beet\/ginger). And I love my local roasted coffee. <\/span><\/p>\n Any sense of depression or anticlimax after achieving your wildest dreams? How did you effect your emotional recovery?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was attending Oregon State University, studying engineering for a career, when I returned home from the Games. I refocused on getting my degree and went to work after school. Our great fortune is that we always have new games to play; for me, mountain biking, roller blading, snowboarding. This is what motivates me to stay in shape so I can try the next new thing. It\u2019s \u2018re-creation\u2019.<\/span><\/p>\n What did you personally think of the fists raised in the air on the awards podium in Mexico City in 1968?<\/strong><\/p>\n I was surprised and startled, it was such a dramatic and bold act. Oh yes, after forty plus years, it\u2019s still being discussed. And my friends, Tommie Smith and John Carlos, have dedicated their lives to being educators of our youth. They are fine men.<\/span><\/p>\n You\u2019re an icon for daring to be different. Did that ever get politicized? Did it ever get under people\u2019s skin?<\/strong><\/p>\n Not really. But I was told by several coaches from the communist regime that my technique would never work, I would never win. <\/span><\/p>\n Did [Soviet high jump star] Valeriy Brumel ever say anything memorable to you after you rewired the universe he used to preside over?<\/strong><\/p>\n Yes, he told me if he hadn\u2019t crushed his legs, he might have been able to try my technique and beat me with my own style. We both laughed when I challenged him to \u201cjust try!\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n Right now, if I were to give you a set of high-jumping shoes, what could you clear?<\/strong><\/p>\n Nothing. I had a spinal fusion two years ago to remove a lymphoma tumor, which I\u2019ve survived. I\u2019m starting over to walk, jog, and snow shoe in the winter, and feel blessed I\u2019m still vertical. <\/span><\/p>\n Do you ever jump in your dreams?<\/strong><\/p>\n No, but it\u2019s funny. I dreamed I was running gates in a slalom course on my carving board last week. It must have been triggered by my visit to the Winter Games in Vancouver. <\/span><\/p>\n Have you ever considered the Fosbury Flop your intellectual property?<\/strong><\/p>\n Well, I did get to name my style, and it stuck. That was clever.<\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s your best straddle jump [using the pre-Fosbury style]?<\/strong><\/p>\n I cleared 6′ 6″ at our training camp in South Lake Tahoe, the summer of \u201868. Never in competition though. <\/span><\/p>\n What\u2019s the highest jump you made during practice that nobody ever saw?<\/strong><\/p>\n Doesn\u2019t matter if nobody saw it. <\/span><\/p>\n \u2013Bruce Poliquin (R)<\/span>![\"cosby\"](\"http:\/\/www.portlandmonthly.com\/portmag\/wp-content\/uploads\/2010\/03\/cosby.jpg\" "\\"cosby\\"")
Make a better mousetrap, and the world will beat a path to your door<\/em>. The year was 1968, and change was in the air. So was Dick Fosbury, changing the high jump forever by setting an Olympic record of 7 feet, 4\u00bc inches (2.24 meters) at the Mexico City Olympics by flying over the bar on his back\u2013head-first\u2013with his unique Fosbury Flop style. <\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n
\n![\"Bookmark](\"http:\/\/s7.addthis.com\/static\/btn\/lg-share-en.gif\")
<\/a><\/p>\n