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hate to be 'that guy' but i think duplantis is a pole-vaulter, like bubka. same principle, so comparison is still valid.

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hahaha. dammit!

so Sotomayor is the *only* high jumper I know since Dick Fosbury!

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Really interesting observation! So rather than purely measuring physical prowess, an additional mental factor is added.

The reason a particular sport is made binary could be our inability to measure the metric. In a long jump, you can easily measure the jump. But in weightlifting their is no easy way to measure strength on continuous scale. I wonder if with technology, high jump can be made continuous as we can now measure the highest point of the jump, which was earlier not possible.

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there is a good reason why it is made binary, as you point out. and we can't wish this away.

just that it adds a mental factor as wlel.

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