Leo Rwabwogo (3 June 1949 – 14 January 2009) was a Ugandan boxer, who won two Olympic medals during his career as an amateur in the

flyweight Flyweight is a weight class in combat sports. Boxing Flyweight is a class in boxing which includes fighters weighing above 49 kg (108 lb) and up to 51 kg (112 lb). Professional boxing The flyweight division was the last of b ...

division (up to 51 kg). He won a bronze medal at the

1968 Summer Olympics The 1968 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1968), officially known as the Games of the XIX Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XIX Olimpiada) and commonly known as Mexico 1968 ( es, México 1968), were an international multi-sport eve ...

Mexico City Mexico City ( es, link=no, Ciudad de México, ; abbr.: CDMX; Nahuatl: ''Altepetl Mexico'') is the capital city, capital and primate city, largest city of Mexico, and the List of North American cities by population, most populous city in North Amer ...

before winning a silver medal at the

1972 Summer Olympics The 1972 Summer Olympics (), officially known as the Games of the XX Olympiad () and commonly known as Munich 1972 (german: München 1972), was an international multi-sport event held in Munich, West Germany, from 26 August to 11 September 1972. ...

in Munich. He also won a silver medal at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

Early life

Rwabwogo was born in Tororo, a town in the Eastern Region of Uganda. He took up boxing and joined the Kilembe Mines Boxing Center in the west of the country.

Career

1968 Olympics

Rwabwogo had claimed the African flyweight title in the 1960s and was selected as part of the Ugandan boxing team for the

. He was drawn against South Korean Seo Sang-yeong in his debut fight in the Olympics, winning a unanimous 5–0 decision. Further decision victories over American David Vasquez and Hungarian Tibor Badari followed, winning both 3–2, advanced Rwabwogo to the semi-final. Rwabwogo met Polish fighter Artur Olech who had won the silver medal in the event four years earlier at the 1964 Summer Olympics. The experienced Olech proved too strong for Rwabwogo, winning the fight in a 4–1 decision. Despite his defeat, Rwabwogo won the bronze medal in the event. He became the second athlete to win an Olympic medal in the nation's history, his teammate Eridadi Mukwanga had also guaranteed himself a medal two days earlier in the bantamweight division. Rwabwogo was however the first to receive his medal as Mukwanga had advanced in his weight class. Mukwanga went on to win the silver medal after losing the final.

1972 Olympics

At the 1970 British Commonwealth Games, Rwabwogo won the silver medal after losing to Englishman Dave Needham. He was chosen to represent Uganda again at the

Munich Munich ( ; german: München ; bar, Minga ) is the capital and most populous city of the German state of Bavaria. With a population of 1,558,395 inhabitants as of 31 July 2020, it is the third-largest city in Germany, after Berlin and Ha ...

, winning his first round bout over Uruguayan Jorge Acuña by a 5–0 decision. He recorded his first TKO victory in an Olympic event in the second round, stopping British fighter Maurice O'Sullivan. He 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. Having lost in the semi-finals four years earlier, Rwabwogo went one better in the 1972 games by defeating Cuban fighter Douglas Rodriguez in a 3–2 decision victory to reach the flyweight final. Rwabwogo met Bulgarian Georgi Kostadinov in the gold medal match on 10 September. Kostadinov was the stronger in the first two rounds but, in the third, Rwabwogo mounted a "heavy counter-offensive" in an attempt to recover. However, Kostadinov held out to win the gold, with Rwabwogo claiming silver. Rwabwogo's trainer would later claim that an injured right hand had impeded his fight and denied him victory. By winning silver, Rwabwogo became the only Ugandan athlete to win more than one Olympic medal in the nation's history. He is also 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. His silver medal victory briefly tied him with Mukwanga for Uganda's highest placed finish at an Olympic event until

hurdler Hurdling is the act of jumping over an obstacle at a high speed or in a sprint. In the early 19th century, hurdlers ran at and jumped over each hurdle (sometimes known as 'burgles'), landing on both feet and checking their forward motion. Today, ...

John Akii-Bua John Akii-Bua (3 December 1949 – 20 June 1997) was a Ugandan hurdler and the first Olympic champion from his country Uganda and Africa at large. In 1986, he was a recipient of the Silver Olympic Order. Biography Akii-Bua was raised in a ...

claimed the nation's first ever gold medal days later.

Later life

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. After retiring from fighting, he took up other roles within boxing, coaching other fighters and becoming a referee. He 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, Rwabwogo was a campaigner for

Crispus Kiyonga Crispus Walter Kiyonga (born 1 January 1952), whose first name is sometimes spelled Chrispus, is a Ugandan physician, politician and diplomat, who serves as Uganda's Ambassador to China, based in Beijing. He previously served as the Minister of ...

and became a member of the

National Resistance Movement The National Resistance Movement ( sw, Harakati za Upinzani za Kitaifa; abbr. NRM) has been the ruling party in Uganda since 1986. History The National Resistance Movement (NRM) was founded as a liberation movement that waged a guerrilla ...

. He ended his life working as a peasant farmer in relative poverty. He died while tending his garden in the village of Rugongo in the

Kabarole District Kabarole District is a district in Western Uganda. Kabarole District is part of the Kingdom of Toro. Its main town was Fort Portal before 1st July 2020 when it was elevated to a city, separating it from Kabarole district Government. The new Kabar ...

at the age of 59 in 2008, leaving behind 12 children. The poverty stricken nature of Rwabwogo's death caused shock in Uganda. A fundraising drive raised USh and included the donation of 50 metal sheets and two acres of land to construct a home for Rwabwogo's family.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Rwabwogo, Leo 1949 births 2009 deaths Boxers at the 1968 Summer Olympics Boxers at the 1972 Summer Olympics Flyweight boxers Olympic boxers of Uganda Olympic silver medalists for Uganda Olympic bronze medalists for Uganda Boxers at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games silver medallists for Uganda Olympic medalists in boxing Ugandan male boxers Medalists at the 1972 Summer Olympics Medalists at the 1968 Summer Olympics Commonwealth Games medallists in boxing People from Tororo District