Monday, October 18, 2010

Hall of Fame shot putter Fuchs dies

Hall of Fame shot putter Fuchs dies

Two-time Olympic bronze medalist and 2005 National Track & Field Hall of Fame inductee Jim Fuchs died in New York City on Friday, October 8. He was 82.

Born in Chicago on December 6, 1927, Fuchs was a collegiate star at Yale University, where he won both the IC4A and NCAA shot put titles in 1949 and 1950. He won U.S. national outdoor titles those same years, and was the AAU indoor champion three years in a row from 1950 through 1952.

Fuchs won the Olympic bronze medal at the 1948 Olympic Games in London prior to winning 88 consecutive meets and setting four world records between 1949 and 1950. Track & Field News ranked him #1 in the world each of those seasons.

Fuchs went on a world record shot put spree beginning in 1949. His first world record was 17.79m/58 feet, 4.50 inches on July 29, 1949 at Oslo, Norway, and he extended it to 17.82m/58-5.50 on April 29, 1950 at Los Angeles. Fuchs improved the world record to 17.90m/58-8.75 on August 20, 1950, at Visby, Sweden; and increased it to 17.95m/58-10.75 two days later at Eskilstuna, Sweden.
Fuchs was the Pan American Games shot put and discus champion in 1951 before once again winning the bronze medal at the 1952 Olympic Games in Helsinki, Finland.

According to the New York Times, Fuchs became a successful businessman in the communications and human resources fields. He also collaborated with George M. Steinbrenner, the New York Yankees’ principal owner, to establish a foundation to provide educational scholarships to the children of police officers and firefighters killed in the line of duty.

About USA Track & Field

USA Track & Field (USATF) is the National Governing Body for track & field, long-distance running and race walking in the United States. USATF encompasses the world's oldest organized sports, the World's #1 Track & Field Team, the most-watched events at the Olympics, the #1 high school and junior high school participatory sport, and more than 30 million adult runners in the United States: www.usatf.org.

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