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
Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase technique was also unique and he jumped with both feet together rather than in a hurdling technique. Benjamin Kogo led the final thru the kilometer but at the bell George Young joined him. Young took the lead with 300 to go, but Biwott ran down everybody in the final straight to win the gold medal. This began the Kenyan dominance of the steeplechase event. Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics – Men's 3000 metres steeplechase The men's 3000 metres steeplechase was the only steeplechase on the Athletics at the 1968 Summer Olympics program in Mexico City. It was held on