Fuchs claimed gold at the Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 Olympics, representing East Germany.

She achieved a personal best of 69.96m with an old type of javelin, no longer in use, in April 1980.

The javelin thrower was a European champion in Rome in 1974 and in Prague in 1978.

She also has a European bronze medal from Helsinki in 1971.

The athlete has openly admitted to using steroids during her career that spanned from 1967 to 1980, as part of East German's state doping programme.

The "woman with the iron arm" was a Member of Parliament in East Germany in 1990 before serving in the same role in reunified Germany.

She was a member of the Party of Democratic Socialism (PDS), which later became the Left Party.

Fuchs was the first Olympic medallist to serve in the Bundestag, known as the Federal Parliament, where she was active until 2002.

Until 2009, she was a member of the Left Party in the Thuringian State Parliament.

As a sports administrator, Fuchs served as the Vice-President of the East German Athletics Association (DVfL) and also worked as an official on the Women's Commission of World Athletics.