Former running great Dick Quax dies aged 70

Former 5,000m world record-holder and Olympic medallist Dick Quax died in New Zealand on Monday at the age of 70, after a long battle with cancer, Athletics New Zealand said.

In the 1970s Quax was part of a formidable New Zealand running trio with John Walker, an Olympic 1,500m gold medallist and world record-holder, and Rod Dixon, an Olympic bronze medallist and New York marathon winner.

Quax won silver in the 5,000m at the 1976 Montreal Games, and 1,500m silver at the 1970 Commonwealth Games. In May 1977, he broke the 5,000m world record with a time of 13 minutes 12.9 seconds.

"It's with great sadness we learned of the death of Dick Quax, one of the all-time greats of our sport," Athletics New Zealand tweeted.

Walker wrote on Facebook: "Dick was one of the fiercest and hardest working competitors on and off the track. He helped me a lot as a young athlete and I will always be grateful for our time shared during and after our running careers."