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 West (Mac Wilkins and shot putter Al Feuerbach signed on shortly thereafter.) Nationally, the Athletics West men performed well in competitions, with Wells winning the marathon in Honolulu, Virgin winning a title in the 5,000-meter event in Knoxville and Malley placing first in the 1,500-meter event in Corvallis, Oregon. The team then traveled to Europe for two months to engage in international-level competition for the first time. Athletics West's final American meet before their Europe trip was the national championship event, where Virgin won the club's first National Championship in the 10,000 meters, they swept the steeplechase, and Feuerbach won the