Rosemarie Ackermann

Ackermann was the straddle's last great champion. While the flop spread around her, the East German stayed with the face-down roll and won Olympic gold in Montreal in 1976, then in 1977 became the first woman to clear 2.00m. That she reached the event's most symbolic height with the older technique is exactly why the straddle-versus-flop argument ran on for years.