EUGENE -- It's been a half-century since Dick Fosbury won an Olympic gold medal, and he still draws a crowd.

"Nobody else has transformed a sport the way he did," says Bob Welch, a former Eugene Register-Guard columnist who co-authored Fosbury's newly released autobiography, "The Wizard of Foz."

That is part of Fosbury's appeal, but there is more to the story that Fosbury, 71, and Welch tell.

A mediocre high jumper at Medford High School, Fosbury used trial and error to arrive at what was then a revolutionary technique in which he jumped with his back to the bar.

Derided at first, the Fosbury Flop became universal after he used it to clear a winning height of 7 feet, 4 1/4 inches while winning gold in Mexico City as an Oregon State junior.

"I'm really proud to have contributed to the sport because I'm a fan," Fosbury says. "But I didn't have a plan to change the world. It's just that after Mexico City, kids all over the world wanted to try it because it looked fun. They're the ones who created the revolution."

Other athletes continued to use the Flop not because it's fun, but because it works.

On Friday, one day prior to the 50th anniversary of Fosbury's Olympic victory, OSU unveiled a bronze statue by Eugene sculptor Ellen Tykeson of Fosbury clearing 7-4 1/4 outside the school's Dixon Recreation Center.

Fosbury's overarching athletic achievement also resonates because of its place in the country's cultural and social history.

The 1968 Olympics took place in a period of social strife. They still are remembered for the moment in which U.S. sprinters John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists on the award stand during the medal ceremony for the 200 meters.

"That was an ugly decade in a lot of respects," Welch says. "And here was this kid from Oregon turning the track and field world on its ear. He was a little bit of warmth in the cold.

"I like to use the word meteoric. It's like he came out of nowhere, and then he was gone."

Fosbury never again jumped at that level. But his one Olympic appearance was personally momentous for ways that had nothing to do with the high jump.

"It transformed me," Fosbury says. "Being exposed at a very young age to international competition and athletes from all over the world really opened my eyes."

His larger multicultural awareness was, perhaps, one reason that upon his return to campus he supported Fred Milton, an African-American OSU football player embroiled in a confrontation with OSU football coach Dee Andros for refusing to shave his facial hair.

It became an on-campus civil rights issue that drew national attention.

Many members of the OSU campus community, including some other athletes, backed Andros.

"After that incident Dick lost a lot of friends, and people he thought were friends," Welch says. "But he took a stand for Fred Milton. He was one of only a handful of white athletes to do that."

Dick Fosbury's autobiography

As good as he was, Fosbury never was only about athletics.

"My objective in going to Oregon State was to be an engineer," he says. "I wanted to build communities. But I loved to play the games. I loved training. I was fortunate to be able to do both."

He earned a degree in civil engineering. After college he went to work, but never completely left the sport.

He volunteers as a high school coach and sponsors track camps. He serves as president of U.S. Olympians and Paralympians Association, and is chairman of the Simplot Games, an indoor track meet in Pocatello, Idaho.

Fosbury helped raise money for construction of OSU Whyte Track & Field Center, the on-campus track for the OSU women's team. He hopes one day soon to see the Beavers bring back a men's track program.

Welch says Fosbury found a balance in his life many elite athletes don't.

"He said he just wanted to be a regular guy and a civil engineer, and that's exactly what he did," Welch says. "He didn't need to prove himself."

If that has meant pursuing a wide range of interests, Fosbury has been fine with that.

At an event in Medford during last week's book tour, Fosbury had to break away to participate by phone in a debate for the election to the Blaine County (Idaho) Commission. Fosbury is a candidate.

"He's refreshing," Welch says. "There never has been another athlete like Dick Fosbury."

-- Ken Goe

kgoe@oregonian.com | @KenGoe