The German writer Bertolt Brecht he had clear ideas about the meaning of life: “He who fights risks losing, but he who does not fight has already lost”. But to win there is not one and only one path to follow. In life as in sports. Especially in sports, there is a robust list of athletes who have sought to innovate and innovate. And so, with the aim of improving their performance, they ended up improving their sport. There are plenty of examples in football. Herbert ChapmanArsenal manager in the 1930s invented man-marking. About half a century later Nils Liedholm proposed the “zone”. But beyond the schemes and tactical postures, some plays were also profoundly innovative. The spoon of Pancakesuccessfully taken up by Tottithe curling shot of Del Pierothe pirouette of Cruyff or the “veronica” of Zidanemoving on in more recent times to the protective “crocodile” on opponents’ free kicks, which was accepted by Brozović but invented in 2013 by the Brazilian Ricardinho. And tennis? Just think of the two-handed backhand, brought to the courts for the first time by Vivian McGrathAustralian from the 30s. A move later perfected by Bjorn Borg and from two of the Fab 4 who shared the Slams and other tournaments in the first twenty years of the 2000s: Novak Djokovic And Andy Murray. The Swiss figure skater Denise Bielmann he invented a personalized spinning top: it spun on one skate while holding the other in its hands.
But without a shadow of a doubt the greatest innovator in the history of sport bore the name of Dick Fosbury – died last year – American athlete who changed the high jump forever. How? Simply… by changing the jump. Before the Olympics in Mexico City 1968in fact, the jumpers overcame the bar by stepping over it and placing themselves in a ventral position. With the “Fosbury Flop” everything changes because from Dick onwards the athletes rotate, with their backs to the bar and lie down on their backs on the mat. And to think that, despite the gold and the record that lasted for a couple of Olympic editions, the American giant was mocked by the press and commentators for presenting this bizarre technique. But in essence, it was only him who was laughing. He gave athletics a technique so innovative that it was taken as a model by all high jumpers of all ages. “History is a gallery of paintings where there are few originals and many copies” She said Alexis de Tocqueville. And certainly in the museum of sporting masterpieces of all times, Dick Fosbury’s work shines: so original that it has been copied. By everyone.
