Frankie Traynor was the outstanding Irish boxer at the 1928 Amsterdam Olympic Games, advancing to the semi-final of the men’s lightweight division with victories over Fuji Okamoto of Japan and Carmelo Robledo of Argentina – the same Robledo who went on to win the Olympic featherweight gold medal at Los Angeles in 1932.

In the semi-final against the Italian Vittorio Tamagnini, Traynor was outboxing his opponent and on course for the final when the British referee stopped the fight and disqualified him for holding and clinching in the second round, in a decision that provoked immediate protest from all quarters – representatives of Germany, Holland, Belgium and Canada visited the Irish dressing room to offer their support. The Irish Olympic Council lodged a formal protest and the appeal jury’s verdict was a tacit admission of the injustice: the normal rule that a disqualified boxer is automatically suspended was set aside and Traynor was permitted to compete for the bronze medal, which he lost on points to South Africa’s Harry Isaacs.

An ex-Army man, Traynor was one of the soldiers and policemen who formed the backbone of the Irish boxing squad.