Dick Fosbury: 7

As a young high jumper in the early 1960s, Dick Fosbury had trouble mastering the standard technique, called the straddle. Instead he began doing the high jump by approaching the bar with his back to it, doing a modified scissor-kick and going over the bar backwards and horizontal to the ground. As goofy as it looked, it worked. Dubbed the "Fosbury Flop" by a Medford, Oregon reporter, Fosbury caused a sensation when he won the gold medal in the 1968 Olympics, jumping a height of 2.24 meters. The Fosbury Flop has since become a standard technique for high jumpers.

http://archives.starbulletin.com/1999/02/13/sports/story2.html

Richard Douglas Fosbury (born March 6, 1947) is a retired high jumper, who is considered one of the most influential athletes in the history of track and field.

Javier Sotomayor (Cuba) is the current men's record holder with a jump of 2.45 m (8 ft 01⁄4 in) set in 1993 – the longest standing record in the history of the men's high jump. Stefka Kostadinova (Bulgaria) has held the women's world record at 2.09 m (6 ft 101⁄4 in) since 1987, also the longest-held record in the event.