Speaking of football, Steve, I think the great Cuban, Javier Sotomayor, jumped the height of a cross-bar.

Backwoodsman - I was thinking that, rather than approaching from an acute angle and making a straddle, running up at about 90 degrees and diving, as if into a swimming pool, then, as I say, kicking up to clear feet and legs over the bar. I think a good athlete could get over a pretty good height that way...I'm sure it has been tried but I've never seen it.

I have, however, seen footage of some young African athletes straddling a good height then landing on their feet, onto hard ground, in the absence of a mat.