James Fuchs, who became a master of the shot put, pioneering his own technique to compensate for a leg injury, has died at the age of 82.

A native of Chicago, Fuchs won bronze at the 1948 and 1952 Olympics and was unbeaten in 88 competitions, holding the world record throw of 17.95m from 1949 to 1953.

He earned the nickname ‘The Magnificent Wreck’ for his competitiveness in the face of adversity, injury and sickness.

At the London Olympics he had a fever with a 104-degree temperature – in Helsinki four years later he competed with a badly injured hand.

His new shot put technique – the sideways guide – involved a more fluid catapult motion that superseded the traditional stop and cock method.

This was later adapted further by Parry O’Brien who in 1953 broke Fuchs’s record using the 180 degree ‘backwards glide’.

According to The New York Times, Fuchs was once preparing for the 1952 Olympics in Central Park only to be kicked out because of the large holes his shot was making on the grass.

He moved on to a field beneath the 59th Street bridge where passers-by reported him to police for ‘indecent exposure’ due to his athletics kit.

Such was his fame at that time the investigating officers who turned up recognised him and stayed to help him retrieve his shot as he practised.