Olympian and 1978 Asian Games gold medallist Suresh Babu, who had inspired a lot of youngsters to take up athletics in 1970s and 80s, on Saturday died at a city hospital in Ranchi after vomiting blood as a pall of gloom descended on the 34th National Games.He was 58 and is survived by his wife, one son and one daughter.Here as Kerala contingent chef-de-mission, the former long jumper and chief national athletics coach, was declared dead at around 11:30 am due to liver cirrhosis after he was rushed to Rajendra Institute of Medical Sciences this morning.The news of Suresh Babu's death gave a big jolt to the spirited Kerala contingent who, riding on their track and field performance, are on eighth spot on the medals standings with 13 gold, 11 silver and 11 bronze.Confirming the news, K S Babu, an official of the Kerala Olympic Association told a news agency, "He died at around 11.30am. His family members have been informed."A charter flight is taking his mortal remains to his home in Kerala, organisers of the National Games said.Put up at the Khel Gaon (Athletics Village) near the Mega Sports Complex in the outskirts of the city, Suresh Babu fell ill in the morning as he vomited blood and was rushed to RIMS, K S Babu said."He was put on ventilator and doctors tried their best but in vain…," he said."He has a history of illness. He was a suffering from kidney complications and three months back he recovered from a bout of jaundice. His blood pressure was low. But his personal doctor back home in Thiruvananthapuram had permitted him to accompany the team," he said.Holder of national titles in jump events and decathlon, Suresh Babu dominated the track and field between 1972 and 1979 as he was awarded with Arjuna.At the tender age of 19, Suresh Babu first represented India at the 1972 Munich Olympics.But his claim to fame came after two years in the the Tehran Asian Games when he won his first medal — a bronze — in the decathlon. In the following year, he clinched the title in the Asian Championships in Seoul.In between, he captained Indian Universities athletics team to the World Universities Games at Moscow in 1973.Leading the Indian athletics contingent in the 1978 Commonwealth Games at Edmonton in Canada, Suresh Babu concentrated on long jump and earned the country a bronze.But his biggest moment of glory came in the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok where he went on to grab the long jump gold.His winning effort of 7.85 metres was far short of T C Yohannan's 8.07m in the previous edition but nevertheless he had maintained an Indian tradition with the yellow metal in long jump.