Royal Navy officer reflects on his experience officiating the boxing at the Paris Olympics

The Olympic Games are the pinnacle of sport, but not just for the athletes who train for years to be selected to compete for their country.

Those who officiated at any of the 32 sports at this year’s Games must also operate at the highest level - including Micky.

After a naval career spanning 37 years – in which he was the UK Armed Forces Boxing Champion – Micky took some time off from his Civil Service role as Ships Facilities Manager based at Semaphore Tower in Portsmouth to bring his boxing expertise to the Paris Olympics.

A veteran official from the Tokyo Games and a key member of the local organising team involved in delivering the boxing element of the London 2012 Games, Paris was his third involvement in the Greatest Show on Earth.  

He honed his technical skills as an official in the UK Armed Forces before sharing his knowledge in the civilian boxing community across the country as a Director for England and GB Boxing. 

Micky is the highest qualified amateur boxing technical official in the country and the only English official to have taken charge of a major international tournament in more than 30 years when he was appointed as the Technical Delegate for the boxing competition in the 2022 Commonwealth Games.  

At the Paris Games, he was appointed as the Deputy to the Technical Delegate where he was responsible for ensuring that all activity in and around the ring was carried out in accordance with the rules of Olympic boxing.  

Inside the ring he looked for anything that might have been out of the ordinary, ensuring that neither boxer got an advantage over the other by using illegal procedures or practices. Outside the ring, he made sure that officials and support staff were carrying out their duties to the best of their ability.

Micky said: “Being part of the Olympics is almost certainly the dream of every sportsperson at any level. Clearly only a very small minority ever realise that dream.  

“Having been an international official for more than 20 years, reaching the very highest level as an international referee, I can tell you it is equally as difficult getting to the Games as an official.

“You must be at the top of your game, know the rules inside out and more importantly be able to apply them fairly, consistently, and correctly. I have no doubt that my many years of working within the Ministry of Defence both in the navy and as a civil servant have been extremely valuable in being able to carry out my Olympic duties in a fair and even-handed way.

“The Ministry of Defence and the Armed Forces have been incredibly supportive to me and all those able to participate in elite level sport — not just athletes but also elite level officials.

“I truly believe that sport played at a higher level brings so much to service life by providing genuine role models, while adding real value to an organisation or unit.”