Once Upon a Time in the Vest

Saturday, December 3, 2011

Vol. 1 No. 77 Footage for Straddle Lovers

Phil Scott, Clayton, OH, one of the most avid (obsessive compulsive?) of track nuts I've ever known has referred us to a youtube sequence coming out of Russia showing a number the great Soviet jumpers of the past. Unless you can understand Russian or recognize these guys, don't expect me to id them. Brumel is the only one I knew, and the only name I could decipher from the audio.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syBIg65IzV8&feature=related


Phil reminded me that 7' 8.5" (2.35m)is the highest ever done with the straddle, Vladmir Yashtshenko at the 1978 European indoor championships. It was not a WR at the time of the jump. The last WR with a straddle was 2.34m also by Yashtshenko. There are plenty of other youtube pieces on the great straddlers as well.

The series starts with HJ, intersperses a few clips of Valery Borzov sprinting , then a bit of gymnastics (note the size of the females). It was a time when "adult" women were still the best in the business. Then it finishes off with some more high jumping.

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