Brian Oldfield, a colorful Olympic shot-putter whose outsize talent was matched by his unlikely celebrity, died Sunday at his condo in Elgin, the city where he was born an 11-pound, 9-ounce baby.

In the mid-1970s, "He was the single best shot-putter in the world," said Dave Johnson, director of the famed Penn Relays competition and a longtime Track & Field News editor.

But in recent years Mr. Oldfield struggled with ailing health, becoming homebound and living on Social Security and the money he made selling T-shirts and autographed merchandise online and charging $25 to $75 for telephone coaching consultations.

Mr. Oldfield was 71.

"His body gave up," said his sister, Lori Grimes.