Flop: Fosbury is third
at the Masters Games
■ Continued from Page 1
jumpers Dick Fosbury and John
Thomas. Fosbury revolutionized
the event with his unique ap
proach that earned him a gold
medal in the 1968 Summer
Olympics in Mexico City, clearing
7 feet 4 and one-quarter inches.
Thomas was one of the first peo
ple to jump over seven feet, earn
ing the bronze in Rome in 1960
and the silver in Tokyo in 1964.
“While there’s the norm for
elite athletes, here it’s very indi
vidualistic."
Fosbury, 51, competed
Wednesday in the 50 to 54 age
group, finishing third at 5 feet 3
inches. Franc Vivod of Slovenia
won the competition with a
height of 5-7.
Thomas and Fosbury each held
clinics at the Games, and both are
members of the USA Track and
Field Hall of Fame.
Fosbury, a native Oregonian,
was competing Wednesday for
the first time in more than 10
years.
"I’m happy that I don’t have to
compete against the young guys,”
he said.
Thomas, who was presenting
awards, stresses the individuality
of the sport.
Not since Knute Rockne
brought the forward pass to foot
ball has a sport been turned on it’s
head the way Fosbury’s flop did.
Nor has a change held like Fos
bury’s revolution.
“The best way is the way that’s
most comfortable for you,”
Thomas said.
At the northern pit, the 55-and
over age groups primarily used
the straddle approach. Keith Carr,
66, a retired Bend High School
teacher from Elkton took second
in the 65 to 70 group using the
straddle to clear 4-7.
"There’s an advantage in the
flop,” he said. “I’m gonna work on
it a little and see what I can do. ”
Long before the epiphany of the
flop, Carr was clearing 6-4 at
Brigham Y oung University.
“It’s disgusting,” continued
Carr, who taught at Bend until 10
years ago, “you stand there and
look at the bar and it’s a height that
you didn’t used to start at. Then
you go up and knock it off.”
Despite his disappointment,
Carr epitomized the old age-defy
ing droves of the Masters Games,
bobbing up and down on his toes,
impatiently waiting for his silver
medal.
Fosbury, who currently does
civil engineering in Ketchum, Ida
ho, downplayed the fact that the
Masters Games is the one place
where people aren’t flopping.
“I’ve never forced my style on
anyone,” he said. “I grew up try
ing to learn the straddle.”
The two approaches, the multi
tude of styles, the spread of ages
and competitors from Lithuania
to India — they all typified the
Games’ focus on individuality.
The sparse afternoon crowd
showed its support by clapping in
unison when Jaroslav Hanus, a
straddler from The Czech Repub
lic, tried for the 55 to 59 world
record of 5-10 and one-quarter.
Out of the same crowd, sup
porters responded to missed
heights with shouts of encourage
ment.
While roaring cheers for
cleared heights are usually offset
by the dead silence of a miss, a
common response for Wednes
day’s miscues was, “It’s okay,
Dad!”
Games: Past Olympians
Biondi, Salazar to compete
■ Continued from Page 1
time the Games have come to the
United States.
The Games, which include 25
sports, are based in Portland and
run from August 9 to 22. The
track and field segment is taking
place in Eugene.
Celebrity athletes at the games
will include: triathlete Mark
Allen, Olympic swimmer Matt
Biondi, high jump revolutionary
Dick Fosbury, former NFL receiv
er James Lofton, distance runner
Alberto Salazar, and seven-time
NBA All-Star Jo Jo White.
“It’s such fun, such fun to do,”
said Anne Berger, a volunteer
area marshal from Kalamazoo,
Mich.
Some of the individuals, the
“weekend warriors” of the partic
ipants, have participated for
years, she added.
The event still lacks the mass
appeal of professional sports,
though, said former Olympian
John Thomas.
“Because there’s no money in
volved, it’s just another event,”
he said.
The Games will conclude in
Eugene fashion with the twilight
running of the 1,500 meters at
Hayward Field at 6 p.m. on Au
gust 22.
The Games were first held in
1985 in Toronto, Canada. They
have since been held in Denmark
in 1989 and Brisbane, Australia,
in 1994. Nike was named title
partner for the 1998 games,
which would not have been pos
sible without corporate support.
For more information on the
Nike World Masters Games, visit
the official headquarters of the
Eugene games in the Bowerman
Building, which is next to Hay
ward Field on 15th Avenue.
Lightning kills OSU professor
CORVALLIS — An Oregon
State University teacher died last
week when she was struck by
lightning while visiting her par
ents in Arizona.
Violet Jonas, 56, had gone for a
walk in the woods behind her
parents’ home in Dewey, Ariz., on
Thursday evening.
When she didn’t return, her
parents called the police, said
Christine Pastorek, one of Jonas’
colleagues in the OSU chemistry
department.
Searchers discovered her body
in the woods nearby.
Jonas, who had taught at OSU
for the past 20 years, went for a
walk every evening, Pastorek
said.
Jonas obtained her doctorate in
organic chemistry from the Uni
versity of California at Riverside
in 1970. She taught in Germany,
at California State College in Bak
ersfield and at California State
University in Long Beach before
coming to Oregon State.
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