Olympic archive: boxer Terry Spinks (1956)
Teenager Terry Spinks had to take time off from his dustbin round to win flyweight gold at Melbourne. Reginald Bosanquet met him on his return at the family home in Canning Town.
The 1956 Olympics – the first since the advent of commercial television in 1955 – were held over November and early December in Melbourne, Australia, at a time when satellite TV was a dream for most people, writes Ian Searcey.
Great Britain won six gold medals, and ITN made every effort to interview the successful Olympians as they arrived back home from the southern hemisphere.
On 13 December 1956, Reginald Bosanquet went to see 18-year-old boxer Terry Spinks, reunited with his family in Canning Town after winning the flyweight gold medal.
The son of a West Ham bookmaker, Spinks was the youngest British boxer to win an Olympic gold and, according to some reports, was a late call-up for the British team, having to take time off from his dustbin round to compete in Melbourne.
The youngster, surrounded by his proud family, is obviously pleased but subdued as Bosanquet grills him about his experience. Despite his father’s doubts, he insists he always thought he had a chance of a medal, and though he enjoyed the facilities and the food in Australia, Spinks admits he saw nothing of the rest of the Games as the boxing coincided with all of the major track and field events.
The interview finishes with his dad and family toasting their gold medallist son.
Spinks went professional in 1957, winning 41 of 49 fights, and was British featherweight champion between 1960 and 1961. He coached the South Korean team at the 1972 Munich Olympics and was made an MBE in 2002. He died in April 2012 after a long illness.
