Before foam, there was sand. If you take a closer look at the picture, you’d realise that the jumper is not landing on a foam pad, but simple sand – not exactly a soft landing, but certainly much harder than what we are accustomed today. So apart from the sand, how has the high jump event changed over the years?

yg explores the different jumps and landing equipment in his post:

i was browsing through some photographs of the farrer park stadium, when it dawned on me how much the high jump field event has changed over the years. it is not just the jumping technique that has changed but also the landing surfaces for the jump.

those early years, we used to jump and land in a sand pit. during our primary school days, we had never heard of the fosbury flop. most of us generally leaped over the cross-bar feet first save for some kamikaze jumpers. the styles that we employed were western roll, straddle or the scissors.

Read more about how the high jump has changed in this post.

Come to think of it, even our playgrounds today have replaced sand with a foam-lined floor.I’m sure people who remember the sandy playgrounds will agree with me in saying that it’s not the same. =D