Former modern pentathlon Olympic winner Jim Fox died at the age of 81, know his cause of death, obituary, net worth and wife
At the 1976 Olympics in Montreal, Canada, Fox, Danny Nightingale, and Adrian Parker won gold for Great Britain as a team.
Fox was known not only for his Olympic success, but also for his part in revealing the cheating of Soviet Union Red Army soldier Boris Onishchenko. Onishchenko was disqualified after it was found that a switch had been hidden in his fencing sword to register false hits.
Pentathlon Olympic champion Jim Fox cause of death, obituary, net worth, wife, family, age
During their fencing match, a light came on early to show that Onishchenko had scored a hit. Fox later told the BBC, “All I could think about was that Onishchenko had a weapon that was not properly working. And then over a period of minutes, because he was going to put it back in his bag and because of the way he wanted to put it back in his bag, I felt there was something dramatically wrong.”
1981 UK Masters champion and 1977 Olympic modern pentathlon gold medalist Jim Fox died yesterday at age 81. Prayers for his family. pic.twitter.com/4YJP8skU2J
— Superstars Competition (@SuperstarsComp) April 29, 2023
Onishchenko’s cheating was soon found out. At the time, an official from Montreal 1976 named Carl Schwende said, “The weapon had definitely been tampered with. Someone had wired it so that it would get a hit even if it didn’t touch anything.”
Jim Fox’s Olympics career and more
Fox was on Team Great Britain at four straight Olympics. In Munich in 1972, he finished fourth in the individual event. He had planned to quit after the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City, but coach Ron Bright talked him out of it.
RIP Army legend Jim Fox who died yesterday (aged 81). 1976 Modern Pentathlon Olympic Gold in Montreal. Supreme influence on the sport, faithful supporter of young generation & pleasure to be around @TeamGB @ArmySportASCB @BritishArmy @pentathlonGB @WorldPentathlon @Official_REME pic.twitter.com/5JxDhNFFMo
— Seb Pollington (@sebpollngton) April 29, 2023
Jim Fox worked as the head of Pentathlon GB after he stopped competing. “All at Pentathlon GB send their condolences to Jim Fox’s family and remain grateful for everything he has done for our sport.” the governing body said.
After his many conquests he settled into happily married life and had three effervescent, athletic daughters with wife Alex. The old soldier who was, arguably, Britain’s outstanding all- round sportsman was a victim of Parkinson’s Disease. His net worth stood between $500,000-1 million.
Sports world pays tribute to Olympic champion Jim Fox
Jim Fox was also remembered by British Army Sport, which said, “Very sad news indeed and our sincere condolences to his family and friends. An outstanding athlete and supporter of Modern Pentathlon in the British Army and for his country. RIP Jim and thank you for your service.”
The sports world will remember Jim Fox as an Olympic winner and a key figure in the fight against cheating in modern pentathlon. Everyone who knew him will miss how much he cared about sports and his country.