Jim McCourt
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| Nationality | British (Northern Irish) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 24 January 1944 Belfast, Northern Ireland | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Died | 19 June 2023 (aged 79) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 170 cm (5 ft 7 in) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 64 kg (141 lb) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Boxing | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Event | Light-welterweight | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Club | Immaculata ABC, Belfast | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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James Vincent McCourt (24 January 1944 – 19 June 2023) was an Irish boxer from Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Biography
McCourt won a bronze medal for Ireland in the 1964 Summer Olympics in Tokyo in the lightweight division. He lost a hotly disputed 3–2 decision to Russian Velikton Barannikov in the semi-final.[1] Shortly after the games, McCourt defeated Olympic champion Józef Grudzień of Poland. A year later, he repeated his bronze medal performance at the 1965 European Amateur Boxing Championships in Berlin in the same grade.
McCourt represented the 1966 Northern Irish Team[2] at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Kingston, Jamaica,[3] participating in the 63.5kg light-welterweight category[4] and won the gold medal.[5]
McCourt was rated the number one amateur boxer in the world for four years. A master of defence and counter punching, he was inducted in the Irish Amateur Boxing Hall of Fame.
References
- ^ John Haughey, 'Jim McCourt: 1964 Olympic boxing medallist and Commonwealth Games champion dies'. BBC Sport, 20 June 2023, retrieved 20 June 2023
- ^ "No surprises in Games Team". Belfast News-Letter. 21 June 1966. p. 11. Retrieved 14 November 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Three more for Empire Games Team". Belfast News-Letter. 12 July 1966. p. 1. Retrieved 14 November 2025 – via British Newspaper Archive.
- ^ "Northern Ireland Kingston 1966". Commonwealth Games Federation. Archived from the original on 21 October 2021. Retrieved 16 November 2025.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link) - ^ "Commonwealth Games Medallists". GBR Athletics. Retrieved 16 November 2025.