Iolanda Balaș

Balaș dominated women's high jumping for a decade with a modified scissors style that already looked old-fashioned to many observers. It hardly mattered: she set 14 world records, became the first woman over 1.90m, won Olympic gold in 1960 and 1964 and went unbeaten in roughly 150 consecutive competitions. Her long legs and fast, near-vertical take-off show that an unfashionable technique can still be the right one for a particular body.