Geoff Capes, a British shot putter, has died. He was 75. British Athletics confirmed Capes’ death.
Details surrounding the death were not immediately made available.
The family of Geoffrey Capes would like to announce his sad passing today, 23rd October,” the Capes family said in a statement obtained by BBC. Capes was a three-time Olympian and won the World’s Strongest Man competition twice in the 1980s.
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Portrait of Shot Put champion, Worlds Strongest man and budgerigar breeder Geoff Capes from Great Britain training with straw bales on 1st September 1978 in Spalding, United Kingdom. (John Starr/Allsport/Getty Images)
He represented Britain at the Olympics on three occasions — 1972, 1976 and 1980. His best result happened during the 1980 Games, when he finished in fifth place.
He won gold in the shot put in the Commonwealth Games in 1974 and 1978, and he set the British record with a throw of 21.68 meters in 1980. That remains the longest ratified throw by a Briton.
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Tessa Sanderson, who became an Olympic javelin champion in 1984, described Capes as a “great person and a giant of an athlete.”
Capes, a former policeman, was crowned the World’s Strongest Man in 1983 and 1985.
British shot putter Geoff Capes, UK, 29th May 1974. (Evening Standard/Hulton Archive/Getty Images)
Capes’ athletic achievements were also featured on the British television show “Superstars.” Capes and other competitors went head-to-head in events that they did not normally play in. Capes earned a second place finish in the competition in 1977.
Capes went on to make frequent appearances in advertisements and other television programs.
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Capes is survived by his two children.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
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