Straddle technique straight, and head and trunk pass the bar at the same time. Charles Dumas, the first high jumper to clear 7 ft, and John Thomas (silver medal at the 1964 Olympics) used this technique. Valeriy Brumel (gold in 1964) dove a little bit, his head going over the bar before his trunk. Probably the most extreme exponent of the dive straddle was Bob Avant, who cleared 7 ft. in 1961. Avant's technique was close to a pure dive, with just a small knee lift on his lead leg. The last world record jump with the straddle technique was Vladimir Yashchenko's
Oceania Area Championships in Athletics Oceania Area Championships in Athletics The Oceania Area Championships in Athletics is an athletics event run by the Oceania Athletics Association and is held every year. In 1990 the "Oceania Athletic Championships" started as an area championships for the IAAF member countries of Oceania. Initially conceived as a quadrennial event, the championships change to a biennial format in 1996. The event had junior events until a merger with the Oceania Youth Championships occurred in 2000. Both senior and youth events are now held at the championships in a unified competition. Athletics New Zealand and Athletics Australia generally send weakened teams