Dick McTaggart

Richard McTaggart, MBE (15 October 1935 – 9 March 2025) was a Scottish amateur boxer who was Olympic lightweight champion in 1956. In 1960, he won bronze in the same category. In 1956, he received the Val Barker Trophy for best boxing style at the Olympics. At the 1964 Olympics, McTaggart moved to the light-welterweight category but lost in the third bout to the eventual winner Jerzy Kulej. McTaggart won the British ABA title in 1956, 1958, 1960, 1963 and 1965,^[1] and retired with a record of 610 wins out of 634 bouts.^[2]

Dick McTaggart
MBE

McTaggart at the 1960 Olympics
Personal information
Full name	Richard McTaggart
Nationality	Scottish
Born	(1935-10-15)15 October 1935 Dundee, Scotland
Died	9 March 2025(2025-03-09) (aged 89)
Height	175 cm (5 ft 9 in)
Spouse	Doreen Cochran (1966-2025; his death)
Sport
Sport	Boxing
Club	Royal Air Force Dundee Boxing Club
Medal record Representing  Great Britain Olympic Games 1956 Melbourne Lightweight 1960 Rome Lightweight Representing  Scotland Commonwealth Games 1958 Cardiff Lightweight 1962 Perth Light welterweight European Amateur Championships 1961 Belgrade Lightweight

He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 1985 Birthday Honours for services to amateur boxing in Scotland.^[3]

In retirement, McTaggart worked as a boxing coach and prepared the Scottish team to the 1986 and 1990 Commonwealth Games. In 2002, he was inducted into the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame. His four brothers were also amateur boxers.^[1][2]

McTaggart died of complications from dementia on 9 March 2025, at the age of 89.^[4][5] At the time of his death, McTaggart had been living with the disease for nearly two years.^[6]

Achievements

Year	Competition	Location	Position	Event
1954	ABA Championships	London, England	2nd	Featherweight
1956	ABA Championships	London, England	1st	Lightweight
	Olympic Games	Melbourne, Australia	1st
1958	ABA Championships	London, England	1st
	Commonwealth Games	Cardiff, Wales	1st
1960	Olympic Games	Rome, Italy	3rd
1961	European Amateur Championships	Belgrade, Serbia	1st
IABA Golden Jubilee Tournament[7]	Dublin, Ireland	1st
1962	Commonwealth Games	Perth, Western Australia	2nd	Light welterweight
	ABA Championships	London, England	2nd
1963	ABA Championships	London, England	1st
1964	ABA Championships[8]	London, England	3rd
1965	ABA Championships	London, England	1st

1956 Olympic results

• Last 32: bye
• Last 16: defeated Chandrasena Jayasuriya (Ceylon) by decision
• Quarter-final: defeated Andre Vairolatto (France) by decision
• Semi-final: defeated: Anatoly Lagetko (Soviet Union) by decision
• Final: defeated Harry Kurschat (West Germany) by decision (won gold medal)

Awards and honours

• Order of the British Empire – Member (MBE)
• Member of the International Boxing Hall of Fame^[9]
• Member of the Scottish Sports Hall of Fame^[9]
• Val Barker Trophy (1956)
• Lifetime Achievement Award - Team Scotland Sports Awards^[10]