Jim Fuchs

Fuchs in 1952

Personal information

Born

December 6, 1927
Chicago, Illinois, U.S.

Died

October 8, 2010 (aged 82)
Manhattan, New York, U.S.

Alma mater

Yale University

Height

187 cm (6 ft 2 in)

Weight

101 kg (223 lb)

Sport

Athletics

Event(s)

Shot put, discus throw, decathlon

Club

NYAC, New York

Achievements and titles

Personal best(s)

SP – 17.95 m (1950)
DT – 52.60 m (1949)

Medal record

Representing the United States
Olympic Games
	1948 London	Shot put
	1952 Helsinki	Shot put
Pan American Games
	1951 Buenos Aires	Shot put
	1951 Buenos Aires	Discus throw

James "Jim" Emanuel Fuchs (pronounced /ˈfjuːʃ/; December 6, 1927 – October 8, 2010) was an American athlete who competed in the discus throw and shot put. He developed a new shot-putting technique to compensate for a leg injury, and then used what he called "the sideways glide" to set world records and dominate the sport over a two-year span in the early 1950s. He won bronze medals in shot put at both the 1948 Summer Olympics in London and the 1952 Summer Olympics in Helsinki.

Fuchs was born in Chicago, Illinois, where he starred in football at Hyde Park High School (later renamed to Hyde Park Career Academy). He played football as a fullback at Yale University, but injuries kept him off the field. In track, at 215 pounds, he was able to run the 100 yard dash in less than 10 seconds, but suffered a leg injury, and his coaches finally restricted him to competing in the discus and the shot. While recovering from surgery while he was at Yale, he tried to use what was then the standard technique for the shot put but found that his injury made him unable to use that method which involved stopping before releasing the shot. He came up with a technique he called "the sideways glide" that allowed him to shot put more smoothly and without pain, while seeing a dramatic increase in distance. In subsequent years the technique he developed was widely adapted by other competitors. Fuchs' training regimen did not involve lifting weights; in a 1994 interview he suggested that had he done so he would easily have broken 60 feet, shot putting's equivalent of the four-minute mile.

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Wikipedia