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
2009 World Championships in Athletics record of 1,821 athletes set at the 1999 World Championships in Athletics in Seville. The 100 metres race attracted 100 entries, while the Marathon race listed 101 athletes for competition. The event was expected to be the largest sports gathering in 2009, continuing in the vein of the World Championships in Athletics being the third largest sports event after the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup. 2009 World Championships in Athletics The 12th IAAF World Championships in Athletics () were held in Berlin, Germany from 15–23 August 2009. The majority of events took place in the Olympiastadion, while the