Courtney had shown his promise by winning the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) 880 yards title in 1955 whilst a student at Fordham University in New York City.

"Tom was a true man of Fordham, and we are proud to call him a Ram," Fordham director of athletics Ed Kull said of the news of his death.

"He will forever be in the Fordham history books, and his character, persistence, and determination will continue to inspire our Rams for generations."

Courtney won the 1956 American Olympic trials in a national record of 1min 46.4sec but by the time of the Olympics, he was serving as a private in the United States Army and was not considered the favourite for the Olympic race.

Team-mate Arnie Sowell, who had defeated Courtney during their collegiate career, was considered more likely to win.

In the Olympic final, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground, Sowell led at the final turn but Courtney overtook him.

In a dramatic finish, British runner Derek Johnson went past Courtney with 40 metres to go but Courtney surged towards the line to edge out Johnson at the tape for gold in an Olympic record of 1:47.7.

Courtney fainted at the line and the victory ceremony was delayed for an hour to allow for recovery.

"It was a new kind of agony for me, my head was exploding, my stomach ripping, even the tips of my fingers ached," Courtney told Runners’ World Magazine in 2001.

"The only thought in my mind was if I lived I would never run again, then I looked at the tape, realised this was the only chance I would ever have."

Courtney was also part of the 4x400m relay squad which won gold alongside Lou Jones, JW Mashburn and Charlie Jenkins defeating an Australian team including Kevan Gosper, a future International Olympic Committee vice-president.

Courtney had been born in South Orange, New Jersey, where his father Jim played baseball for the Newark Bears, the top minor league team of the New York Yankees. 

Courtney himself originally played baseball at high school in Livingston, New Jersey before trying tennis and then the pole vault.

A coach urged him to take up the half mile and he became state champion a year later.

At Fordham he also anchored its team to a world record in the two-mile relay in 1954.   

His mother Dolores Goerdes was from a German speaking family. 

Courtney travelled to Germany after his graduation where he sought out the family of Rudolf Harbig, the 1938 European champion who was killed in the Second World War.

From Harbig's notes, Courtney learned that the German had trained downhill to increase his speed.

After army service, Courtney earned a master’s degree in business administration from Harvard in 1959. 

He worked as an investor at firms in New York, Boston and Pittsburgh.

He was married to Posy L’Hommedieu in 1963 and they had three sons and nine grandchildren.

He continued running into his fifties.  

He lived in Sewickley, Pennsylvania in later life and at the time of his death he was at an assisted living facility in Naples in Florida.

It is believed that he died from amyloidosis, a complaint of the kidneys.