Debbie Brill

Debbie Brill

Brill in 1972
Personal information
Full name	Debbie Arden Brill
Born	(1953-03-10) March 10, 1953 (age 71) Mission, British Columbia, Canada
Sport
Sport	High jump
Achievements and titles
Highest world ranking	1st (1979)
Personal bests	High jump (indoor): 1.99 m (6 ft 6.3 in) (1982, Former WIR) High jump (outdoor): 1.98 m (6 ft 6.0 in) (1984, NR)
Medal record Women's athletics Representing  Canada IAAF World Indoor Games 1985 Paris High jump Pan American Games 1971 Cali High jump 1979 San Juan High jump Commonwealth Games 1970 Edinburgh High jump 1978 Edmonton High jump 1982 Brisbane High jump Universiade 1977 Sofia High jump Representing Americas IAAF World Cup 1979 Montreal High jump 1977 Dusseldorf High jump

Debbie Arden Brill, OC (born March 10, 1953) is a Canadian high jump athlete who at the age of 16 became the first North American woman to clear 6 feet. Her reverse jumping style—which is now almost exclusively the technique of elite high jumpers—was called the Brill Bend and was developed by her when she was a child, around the same time as Dick Fosbury was developing the similar Fosbury Flop in the US. Brill won gold in the high jump at the 1970 Commonwealth Games, and at the Pan American Games in 1971. She finished 8th in the 1972 Summer Olympics, then quit the sport in the wake of the Munich massacre, returning three years later. She won gold at the IAAF World Cup in 1979 and at the 1982 Commonwealth Games. She has held the Canadian high jump record since 1969, and set the current record of 1.99 metres in 1982, a few months after giving birth to her first child.