Bicourt held the English record for the 3000 metres steeplechase and ran for Britain at the Munich 1972 and Montreal 1976 Olympics.

His best time of 8min 22.83sec - set almost half a century ago - would have placed him top of the UK rankings last year by almost two seconds.

Bicourt, a school teacher and university lecturer, went on to become coach to many athletes at Belgrave Harriers as well as being a pioneering athlete agent handling runners including the late Richard Chelimo of Kenya, who set a world record at 10,000m and won Olympic silver at the Barcelona 1992 Games.

In more recent years, Bicourt also became a fierce campaigner in the world of sports politics, taking organisations such as UK Athletics, England Athletics, UK Sport and Sport England to task for what he felt were severe shortcomings.

He was an amiable character who could nevertheless be unrelenting in cases of perceived injustice or hypocrisy.

Bicourt, who finished eighth in his heat in each of his Olympic appearances, also represented Britain at the 1974 European Championships in Rome, finishing sixth in his heat.

At the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch, he came tantalisingly close to a medal as he, capitalising on his impeccable hurdling technique, finished fourth, clocking 8:29.6 in a race won by Kenya’s Ben Jipcho.

In 1978, Bicourt became known as the first athlete manager/representative and in 1982, he set up the Athletes International Management, which he ran until 2004 as he looked after athletes from Britain, South Africa, Kenya and beyond.

He was also a founder member of the International Association of Athletes' Representatives (IAAR) and elected Board member.