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Ex-Oly gold medalist boxer dies[]

  • Linca won the welterweight gold medal at the 1956 Olympics with a broken wrist
  • He died in his hometown of Feisa in Transylvania at the age of 79
  • Linca was Romania (also known as ROU) Flag of Romania's only Olympic gold medalist boxer

BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) -- Nicolae Linca, a boxer who won the welterweight gold medal at the 1956 Olympics while fighting with a broken wrist, died at his home Saturday. He was 79.

Linca died in his hometown of Feisa in Transylvania, boxing officials said. Daily Pro-Sport reported he had been ailing for several years with Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.

Linca was Romania (also known as ROU) Flag of Romania's only Olympic gold medalist boxer. He won the final at the Melbourne Games by beating Ireland (also known as IRL) Flag of Ireland's Frederick Tiedt. Linca was awarded the victory by three of the five judges.

"He left a legacy which even now we have the duty to try and equalize, and why not, even to do better," said Rudel Obraja, president of the Romanian Boxing Federation.

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