Fred Tiedt won a silver medal in the men's welterweight boxing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games. Despite the aggregated judges' scores giving Tiedt a winning margin of 299-297 over Romanian opponent Nicolae Linca, the gold medal was awarded to the Romanian.
Nat Fleischer, the celebrated founder of The Ring magazine, described the verdict as 'one of the worst' he had seen.
From Beggar's Bush, Dublin, and raised at 7 St Broc's Cottages, Donnybrook, Tiedt was the son of a bus driver father Ernest who trained at the South City Boxing Club in Baggot Lane - where his uncle Paddy was secretary - and Sugar Ray Robinson was the young Fred's boxing role model.
He is the only Irish boxer to have won an Olympic medal before winning a national senior title. In Melbourne, Tiedt outpointed Polish boxer Tadeusz Walasek (later a Rome silver medallist and Mexico bronze medallist) in his opening bout, then defeated the reigning US Army and Services champion Pearce Lane in the quarter-final and the Australian champion Kevin Hogarth in the semi-final - a masterclass of ring craftsmanship that earned him a unanimous decision.
The final on 1 December 1956 - held the same day as Ronnie Delany's gold medal - produced a dominant performance that contemporary accounts unanimously credited to Tiedt. Tiedt himself was certain of his victory: 'I know that I won that final.'
He died at the age of just 63 on June 15th 1999.
Boxing
