An as athlete, Pickering competed in the shot put at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta before following in his father Ron's footsteps as a coach.

He later became  a trustee of the Ron Pickering Memorial Fund (RPMF) set up in his father's name to support young athletes.

"Shaun loved the sport passionately and cared deeply for athletes," a message from British Athletics said.

Shaun Desforges Pickering was born in Griffithstown in South Wales and seemed destined for a life in athletics.

His mother was Jean Pickering, nee Desforges,, an Olympic long jumper at the 1952 Games in Helsinki and 1954 European Championships gold medallist. 

His father Ron, later better known as BBC Television commentator on athletics, was also a renowned coach who guided Lynn Davies to Olympic long jump gold at Tokyo 1964.

"We have lost a very close friend who was almost one of our family," Davies told Athletics Weekly following Pickering's death yesterday.

"We have always been very close to the Pickering family since I met Ron and Jean Pickering when they first came to Wales.

"Shaun was a proud Welsh athlete and a passionate coach and supporter of athletics in this country, just like his dad before him.

"Shaun was a big man with a big heart, 

"We will miss him dearly,"

An imposing figure who stood almost two metres tall, Pickering specialised in the shot put and in 1997 he set a Welsh record 20.45 metres which stands to this day.

He also threw the discus with a best performance of 54.38m and recorded a personal best of 68.64m in the hammer.

He achieved the hat-trick of throwing titles at the Welsh Championships on three occasions.

He was selected for the British team in the shot put at the Atlanta 1996, finishing 27th with a best throw of 18.29 metres.

Then, at the 1997 World Championships in Athens, he placed 26th with a best put of 18.10m.

He competed for Wales at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, winning a bronze medal with 19.33m.

He was inducted into the Welsh Athletics Hall of Fame after a career in which he won five Welsh Championship in the shot and also in the discus with a best of 54.38m and the hammer nine times with a personal best of 68.64m.

He achieved a hat-trick of throwing titles at the Welsh Championships on three occasions. 

Pickering later became UK Athletics coach for heavy throws and forged a career as a consultant in sports marketing and performance.

With his mother and sister Kim, he established the RPMF in 1991 following his father's death.

In 32 years it has distributed over £2 million ($2.5 million/€2.3 million) to young athletes.

It is estimated that two thirds of British athletes at recent major championships have been helped by the fund at some stage in their careers.

Sir Mo Farah was amongst those to benefit, receiving his first pair of spikes as a result of assistance from the fund.