The common froghopper (Philaenus spumarius)
Event: high jump
This insect, which is common throughout Britain, has developed an extraordinary jump that allows it to leap out of the way of predators or animals grazing on the plants they call home. The force a common froghopper exerts at take-off is 400 times its body weight. The highest jumpers can reach 70cm – 115 times their body length – which is like a human jumping 200 metres

Photograph: O Digoit/Alamy

Gold medallists of the natural world – in pictures