American and Russian jumpers held the playing field for the next four decades, and they pioneered the evolution of the straddle technique. Straddle jumpers took off as in the Western roll, but rotated their (belly-down) torso around the bar, obtaining the most economical clearance up to that time. Straddle-jumper Charles Dumas broke the elusive 7 feet (2.13 m) barrier in 1956, and American John Thomas pushed the world mark to 2.23 metres in 1960. Valeriy Brumel took over the event for the next four years. The elegant Soviet jumper radically sped up his approach run, took the record up to 2.28 metres and won the Olympic gold medal in 1964, before a motorcycle accident ended his career.