Soldiers of China's People's Liberation Army (PLA) jump as part of their winter training in temperature of negative 26 degrees Celsius at China's border with Russia in Heihe, Heilongjiang province, December 14, 2015. (Photo by Reuters/Stringer)

Sir Argus, centre, with Brian Hayes up, jumps the first during the Guinness Beginners Steeplechase, alongside eventual winner Mars Harper, right, with Sam Ewing up, during day four of the Galway Races Summer Festival at Ballybrit Racecourse in Galway, Ireland on August 3, 2023. (Photo by Seb Daly/Sportsfile)

USA's Tara Davis-Woodhall reacts as she competes in the women's long jump final during the World Athletics Championships at the National Athletics Centre in Budapest on August 20, 2023.. (Photo by Marton Monus/Reuters)

Tara Davis-Woodhall, of the United States, reacts after an attempt in the women's long jump during the World Athletics Indoor Championships at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow, Scotland, Sunday, March 3, 2024. (Photo by Bernat Armangue/AP Photo)

Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Dubovitskaya reacts as she competes in the women's high jump qualification of the athletics event at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Stade de France in Saint-Denis, north of Paris, on August 2, 2024. (Photo by Andrej Isakovic/AFP Photo)

Two young women jump into a pool on the beach on June 20, 2025 in Margate, United Kingdom. Yellow heat health alerts have been issued by the Met Office with temperatures set to climb as high as 33°C by the weekend. (Photo by Leon Neal/Getty Images)

Beatriz Hatz, of the U.S., competes at Women's Long Jump -T64 final at the Stade de France stadium, during the 2024 Paralympics, Saturday, August 31, 2024, in Paris, France. (Photo by Emilio Morenatti/AP Photo)

In 1949, LIFE magazine sent famed photographer Nina Leen to document the daily life of a sassy troupe of young women who had run off and joined the famous Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, Fla. What developed was a portrait of a sisterhood formed over acrobatics that mixed high-flying wire acts with fashionable high-waisted shorts. Sarasota was once considered “the home of the American circus”. Here: an aerialist smoking while rehearsing for the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus in Sarasota, FL in 1949. (Photo By Nina Leen/Time Life Pictures/Getty Images)