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The New Zealand Olympic Committee invited Olympic and athletics legend Richard (Dick) Fosbury to New Zealand to attend the Golden Girls Dinner. Fosbury a former track and field athlete who revolutionized the high jump event, using a back-first technique, now known as the Fosbury Flop enjoyed his visit to New Zealand. At the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, he took the gold medal and set a new Olympic record at 2.24 meters He continues to be involved in the Olympic movement as President of the World Olympians Association. His role at the World Olympians Association is to engage and bring Olympians together to activate their communities and the concept that through sport we become better people. His role is to get Olympians to inspire and assist their local communities. Dicks highlights while staying in New Zealand included attending the Golden Girls Dinner, where he was introduced to some exceptional people with inspiring stories. Another highlight was seeing the Millennium Institute of Sport where he could see some of New Zealand's high performance facilities, as well and as meeting some athletes and interacting with them in a training session. While here he went to a training session with New Zealand's best high jumpers. Those jumpers got their chance to meet the sport's most famous innovator in Auckland. Fosbury said he was interested in New Zealand as we are producing high level athletes. He says sports here are well developed, have a good foundation and New Zealand faces the same challenges as the rest of the world Fosbury did say he saw some of those athletes had good potential, with good form and good style with a lot of natural ability in high jump, and said they are in good hands with their management and coaching. Fosbury is keen to come back to New Zealand in the near future.
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