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
2015 in athletics (track and field) 2015 in athletics (track and field) In 2015, the foremost athletics event was the 2015 World Championships in Athletics in Beijing. The two other major global level competitions in 2015 are the World Cross Country Championships and the IAAF World Relays. The 2015 season marked the introduction of athletics at the European Games. However, this will not be a major continental event for athletics in the style of the Asian Games, as only the lower tier of the European Team Championships will be contested at the games. Major outdoor continental events will be held for the Americas (Pan American Games),