Alfred Hopkins

A British featherweight and lightweight champion, Alfred Hopkins won British titles at both weights. In 1925 he won the featherweight title and also claimed a world record for the two-handed clean and jerk of 102kg (225lb). On his way to winning the British title again in 1931, he set two British records in the process.

A bread delivery van salesman, Hopkins served in the Territorial Army at the time of the 1928 Olympics and should have attended an Army camp, but skipped it to go to Amsterdam instead. He believed that, as his battalion was a sporting one, they would overlook his misdemeanour. He was wrong, and on his return from the Games appeared before a local magistrate and was fined 10 shillings (50p).