Freddie Gilroy won a bronze medal in the men’s bantamweight boxing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games.

He reached those Games only after his workmates at the Beltex textile plant in Belfast raised the £600 required to fund his place on the aeroplane – a collection that began with a church gate fundraiser in Banbridge and was completed by subscriptions from his fellow employees.

Born on 7 March 1936 in the Short Strand area of east Belfast, the Gilroy family moved to Northwick Drive in the Ardoyne district in 1941, where at eleven he joined the St John Bosco ABC in Donegall Street under coach Jimmy McAree – a club founded by Fr John McSparran in an attic of a grain warehouse.

He won both the Ulster and All-Ireland senior bantamweight titles in 1956, the latter with a first-round knockout, and arrived in Melbourne with a trademark punch – a left hook to the body – that was among the most lethal in amateur boxing. In his opening Melbourne bout, Gilroy created a sensation with a third-round knockout of Boris Stepanov of the USSR – the reigning European champion – before outpointing Mario Sitri of Italy in the quarter-final, surviving two of Gilroy’s classic knockout punches before losing on points. In the semi-final, Gilroy lost a split decision to Wolfgang Behrendt of the German Democratic Republic – the eventual gold medallist.

Gilroy’s bronze was the last of his four amateur bouts in Melbourne. He went on to a celebrated professional boxing career, winning the British and Empire bantamweight titles.