LEWISTON – On a giant screen in a small lecture hall on the campus of Bates College, old track footage draws “oohs” and “ahh’s” from the assembled campers.

In 1968, people were laughing at Dick Fosbury for his high-jumping method now known as the Fosbury Flop. On this day at Bates, the kids were laughing and joking with the former Olympian.

“Fos!” they yelled every time a highlight with one of his jumps flashed across the screen.

In the corner, watching the film that he had prepared himself, Fosbury chuckled under his breath. In less than one year, he had gone from a high school athlete who couldn’t clear 6-feet, 6-inches in the high jump to an Olympic and American Record Holder in the event with a jump of 7-feet, 4 1/4-inches.

“In 1967, the Olympics weren’t even on my radar,” Fosbury said. “I wasn’t on anyone else’s radar, either. Really, my ability to contend and my status as an Olympian evolved in less than a year. It was due in part to the training program my coach put me on, and the fact that I thrive on competition. You either thrive on it or you don’t. You look forward to it or you shy away, and I like it.”

After trying and failing, mostly because of his height, to clear the bar at a competitive height using traditional methods, Fosbury adapted his own style, which turned his body around as it cleared the high jump bar. As his back would clear the bar, Fosbury kicked his feet into the air and “flopped” onto the mat. In one year, he went from a second- or third-rate high school jumper to national champion.

“I jumped in my first indoor meet in 1968, and cleared 7 feet for the first time that year, too. I hadn’t even talked about the Olympics until people started asking me about going. It had never occurred to me.”

The United States, and indeed the track and field community around the world owe Fosbury a tip of the cap. Without him, everyone might still be diving head first over the bar.