John McNally

John McNally (3 November 1932 – 4 April 2022) was an Irish boxer who won a silver medal at the 1952 Summer Olympics in the bantamweight division. In the final McNally lost a split decision to Pentti Hämäläinen of Finland. Early life McNally was born and raised in the Pound Loney area of west Belfast. He was the first person from Belfast and the first Irish boxer to win an Olympic medal. In 1953, McNally won a bronze medal at the European championships and a gold in the Golden Gloves Championships representing Europe against the US in Chicago. McNally, within the space of a year, beat three American Golden Gloves champions and was awarded an honorary pair of Golden Gloves in recognition of this achievement. In 1953, he was made the official bantamweight champion of Germany in recognition of his feat of having defeated that country's three former bantamweight champions in the space of a year. 1952 Olympic results