17 Facts About Leo Rwabwogo

Leo Rwabwogo was a Ugandan boxer, who won two Olympic medals during his career as an amateur in the flyweight division.

Leo Rwabwogo won a bronze medal at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City before winning a silver medal at the 1972 Summer Olympics in Munich.

Leo Rwabwogo won a silver medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.

Leo Rwabwogo took up boxing and joined the Kilembe Mines Boxing Center in the west of the country.

Leo Rwabwogo had claimed the African flyweight title in the 1960s and was selected as part of the Ugandan boxing team for the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City.

Leo Rwabwogo met Polish fighter Artur Olech who had won the silver medal in the event four years earlier at the 1964 Summer Olympics.

Leo Rwabwogo became the second athlete to win an Olympic medal in the nation's history, his teammate Eridadi Mukwanga had guaranteed himself a medal two days earlier in the bantamweight division.

Leo Rwabwogo was however the first to receive his medal as Mukwanga had advanced in his weight class.

At the 1970 British Commonwealth Games, Leo Rwabwogo won the silver medal after losing to Englishman Dave Needham.

Leo Rwabwogo recorded his first TKO victory in an Olympic event in the second round, stopping British fighter Maurice O'Sullivan.

Leo Rwabwogo recorded a decision victory over Thailand's Chawalit On-Chim before recording a second TKO victory of the tournament by stopping Irishman Neil McLaughlin in the quarter-final.

Leo Rwabwogo is one of only three fighters to have won more than one medal at flyweight in Olympic history, alongside Artur Olech of Poland and Bulat Zhumadilov of Kazakhstan.

Leo Rwabwogo was offered the chance to turn professional in the United States following the 1972 games but was persuaded to remain in Uganda by officials from that nation.

Leo Rwabwogo remained in Kilembe, taking up a role as a sports officer at Kilembe Mines, the same club he had boxed at as a teenager.

In 1981, Leo Rwabwogo was a campaigner for Crispus Kiyonga and became a member of the National Resistance Movement.

Leo Rwabwogo ended his life working as a peasant farmer in relative poverty.

Leo Rwabwogo died while tending his garden in the village of Rugongo in the Kabarole District at the age of 59 in 2008, leaving behind 12 children.