Boxing

BIOGRAPHY Martin Smyth competed in the men's bantamweight boxing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, one of four members of the Irish boxing team who had to overcome serious weight management challenges before and during the Games. A member of the Star Club in Belfast, Smyth had secured Olympic selection but faced persistent difficulties making

BIOGRAPHY Harry Perry competed in the men's light-welterweight boxing at the 1956 Melbourne Olympic Games, fighting below his natural weight class after being displaced from welterweight by Fred Tiedt's selection. A natural lightweight, Perry had won the Irish senior lightweight title in 1955 and been denied a place at the 1952 Helsinki Games because of

BIOGRAPHY Sean McCafferty competed in the men's flyweight boxing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, reaching the quarter-finals before being eliminated by the eventual champion Fernando Atzori of Italy. From Francis Street in Belfast's Smithfield area, in a town house that at one stage housed three families and twenty-eight people, McCafferty joined the St John

BIOGRAPHY Paddy Fitzsimons competed in the men's boxing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games, part of an Irish team that benefited from the most structured collective training programme in Irish Olympic boxing history to that point. The Belfast-based boxers trained under coach Harry Enright at the Albert Foundry Club in Paisley Park and at the

BIOGRAPHY 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

BIOGRAPHY Brian Anderson competed in the men's boxing at the 1964 Tokyo Olympic Games as a replacement for Jim Neill, who had been forced to withdraw after suffering a broken jaw in May and subsequently requiring an appendectomy. London-based at the time of his selection, Anderson was part of an Irish boxing team that benefited

BIOGRAPHY Mick Dowling competed in the men's bantamweight boxing at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, winning his opening two bouts with explosive performances before being eliminated in the quarter-finals. From Castlecomer, Co. Kilkenny, Dowling moved to Dublin in 1962 and trained as a waiter at the Gresham Hotel. His sporting background was in hurling

BIOGRAPHY Martin Quinn competed in the men's lightweight boxing at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games and emerged as one of the heroes of the Irish boxing campaign, winning his opening bout in just fourteen seconds before pushing the reigning Olympic and European champion - and eventual silver medallist - Józef Grudzień of Poland to

BIOGRAPHY Eddie Tracey competed in the men's featherweight boxing at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, winning his opening bout before facing local hero Antonio Roldán of Mexico - the eventual gold medallist - in his second contest. A Dublin photographer and a member of the Arbour Hill Boxing Club, Tracey stepped out of a

BIOGRAPHY Eamon McCusker competed in the men's light-middleweight boxing at the 1968 Mexico City Olympic Games, facing Cuba's Rolando Garbey - one of the most formidable heavy punchers in the competition - in his opening bout. A 23-year-old shoe machinist from Banbridge, Co. Down, McCusker was a member of the St John Bosco Boxing Club.