Chris Rafter competed in the men’s bantamweight boxing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, bringing a remarkable transatlantic career to the Olympic arena.

After his original selection for the 1956 Melbourne Games was not confirmed, Rafter emigrated to Chicago where he joined the US Army and went on to win three successive Chicago Golden Gloves flyweight titles from 1958 to 1960 – one of the finest records in American amateur boxing at the time.

He was based in Korea when selected for Tokyo, and US military officials transferred him to a base close to Tokyo to facilitate his Olympic preparation. He lost a unanimous points decision to Argentina’s Abel Almaraz in his opening bout.