Jim Fox (pentathlete)

Jeremy "Jim" Robert Fox ( born September 19, 1941 in Pewsey, Wiltshire ) is a former British modern pentathlete, the 1976 Olympic Champion in the team competition.

Life

Fox took in 1964 in Tokyo for the first time participate in the Olympics; he finished in 29th place in the individual standings and was with the team ninth. At the 1968 Olympic Games in Mexico City, he reached the eighth place both in the individual competition as well as in the team standings. The sergeant in the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers said after the Games in 1968 his departure from competitive sports, but was persuaded by his coach, Ron Bright, to carry on.

In the 1972 Olympics he achieved as the best runners in the field to fourth place in the individual competition and thus the hitherto best Olympic placing a five British fighter; with the team he finished ninth in Munich. During the 1975 World Cup in Mexico City Fox won his first international medal, he finished third with 500 points behind the Soviet world champion Pawel Lednjow, but only nine points behind second-placed Hungary Tamás Kancsal.

In Montreal in 1976 it came in Modern Pentathlon a scandal in the fencing competition. In the battle between the Soviet team Olympic champion from 1972 Boris Onishchenko and the British Adrian Parker watched Fox that the hit indicator lit up, even though the Ukrainians had not taken. Fox jumped at the Planche, held Onischtschenkos sword firmly and asked for a technical examination. This showed that Onishchenko had manipulated his weapon with the help of a wire that he could at any time cause the hit list. Onishchenko was banned for life and the Soviet team had burst. At the end of Adrian Parker finished fifth in the individual standings, Robert Nightingale was tenth and Jim Fox was 15 Together won three British team decision before the Czechoslovaks and Hungarians.

After ten British championship titles, four Olympic appearances and an Olympic gold medal Fox ended his career in 1976. For his athletic achievements Fox was appointed Officer of the Order of the British Empire.