Payao Poontarat

Payao Poontarat ( _th. พเยาว์ พูนธรัตน์, October 18 1957 – August 13 2006) was a Thai boxer who, at the age of 18, won the bronze medal in the men's Light flyweight (-48 kg) category at the 1976 Summer Olympics, the first Olympic medal ever won by a Thai sportsman.

Olympic Results

*Defeated Remus Cosma (Romania) 4-1
*Defeated Aleksandr Tkachenko (Soviet Union) 3-2
*Defeated György Gedó (Hungary) 4-1
*Lost to Li Byong-Uk (North Korea) RSC 2

Pro career

Poontarat later turned professional, and became WBC world champion. On 5 July 1984 he lost the title to Jiro Watanabe, and then the rematch on 29 November the same year.

Life After Boxing

After his professional career he joined the Democratic Party and became elected as member of parliament for his home-province Prachuap Khiri Khan in 2001. About one year later, he began to suffer from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). In 2006 he died of the disease at the Siriraj Hospital in Bangkok. [ [http://www.nationmultimedia.com/2006/08/14/national/national_30011038.php Obituary in "The Nation"] ]

References

Persondata
NAME=Payao Poontarat
ALTERNATIVE NAMES=พเยาว์ พูลธรัตน์
SHORT DESCRIPTION=Boxer, Politician
DATE OF BIRTH=October 18 1957
PLACE OF BIRTH=Amphoe Bang Saphan, Prachuap Khiri Khan Province, Thailand
DATE OF DEATH=August 13 2006
PLACE OF DEATH=Siriraj Hospital, Bangkok, Thailand