Joe Feeney competed in the wrestling at the 1960 Rome Olympic Games, bringing an impressive record to the competition as the holder of four successive British welterweight wrestling titles.

In Rome he lost points decisions to opponents from Bulgaria and India in his two bouts. He and Sean O’Connor were part of an Irish wrestling presence that had developed rapidly in the late 1950s through involvement in British and Irish competition circuits.

He went on to compete at the Tokyo 1964 Olympics.