Former athlete Suresh Babu, who won the long jump gold in the 1978 Asian Games, died here yesterday at the age of 58.

Babu was here as manager of the Kerala state team participating in the National Games and was admitted to the Rajendra Institute of Medical Science (RIMS) after falling sick and vomiting Saturday morning, according to officials. He had been suffering from liver-related problems, it was learnt later.