Died Sunday, Dick Fosbury, known for having revolutionized the high jump with his famous “flop”, is one of those athletes who have anchored their legend by giving their name to a movement or a gesture.
Their gesture went down in history. Dick Fosbury, who died on Sunday March 12, left his mark on athletics with his famous “flop”. This high jump thrown back to the obstacle has since become totally generalized at the highest level, as among amateurs. The American is not the only one to have given his name to a movement. Iutz, Salchow, Madjer or Panenka… A look back at eight eponymous jumps and gestures that have marked the history of sport.
The high jump fosbury flop
You may have tried it in PE class! The American athlete, Dick Fosbury, gave his name to a famous dorsal high jump technique in the late 1960s: the “flop”. A technique which consists of crossing the horizontal bar by rising in the air, unlike those of the belly roll or the scissor, then used. The first time the world discovered this gesture was at the Mexico Olympics in 1968. Dick Fosbury launched a real revolution and won Olympic gold with a bar passed to 2.24 m. Now, this technique is the only one used by athletes.
The Panenka in football
The Panenka is a special technique for taking a penalty. This gesture consists of kicking the ball with a flick of the foot, without power but with a rounded trajectory, in the center of the goal. The first time the Czech player Antonin Panenka made this gesture was in the final of the 1976 European Championship. at the same time offering the title to his team.
The axel in figure skating
A spectacular figure in figure skating, the axel has become a must with an impulse that takes place from the front unlike all the other jumps. It consists of rotating one and a half turns in the air (or two and a half turns for a double axel, and so on). The Norwegian Paulsen Axel invented it in 1882, when he succeeded in performing the trick at the first world figure skating championships in Vienna. He won third place there, three years before being crowned world champion. The axel is considered the most difficult jump to perform on the ice.
The Schwenker in handball
Kung fu, chabala, roucoulette, handball terms are numerous and often surprising. One of these movements bears the name of its creator. This gesture called Schwenker consists of deceiving the defense by feigning a jump shot. Once in the air, the player releases the ball, poses a dribble, then, released from his direct defender, places an additional support and triggers his shot. It was invented by the German Hinrich Schwenker, who accumulated 76 selections in the 1950s and 1960s, when handball was played on grass.
Madjer in football
Especially tempted by offensive players, the Madjer is a pure technical gesture. An inspiration that consists of setting a goal by performing a heel strike between your legs. It was carried out by the Algerian player Rabah Madjer to equalize at the end of the match, during the final of the Champions Clubs Cup in 1987. His club FC Porto finally won at the expense of Bayern Munich (2-1) .
Thomas in gymnastics
The movement is a back and a half somersault, whether in a tuck, pike or stretched position. It is the American Kurt Thomas who is at the origin. The first American to become world gymnastics champion in 1978, in Strasbourg, the gymnast also gave his name to a gesture on the pommel horse, the Thomas Flair. He was three times world champion in his career, and three times vice-world champion.
Figure skating salchow
The salchow is a figure skating element whose start is triggered on a back edge of the inside foot. The arrival takes place on a back edge with the other foot than that which launched the departure. It was the Swede Ulrich Salchow who achieved it for the first time in 1909. During his career, the skater compiled an Olympic title, ten world champion titles and nine European champions. This jump is performed today in triple rotation in international competitions, more rarely in quadruple rotation.
The lutz in figure skating
This is a counter-rotating toe jump. This figure, considered the most difficult to execute after the axel, requires both balance and coordination in order to facilitate landing. It was performed for the first time in 1913 by the Austrian Alois Lutz. In competition, the first woman to have achieved a quadruple lutz is the Russian Alexandra Troussova, at only 14 years old, in September 2018 (the American Brandon Mroz being the first man in September 2011, at 20 years old). Since then, it’s very rare to see a skater or even a skater perform a quadruple lutz.