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Payao Poontarat, 49; Boxer Won Thailand’s First Olympic Medal

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From Times Staff and Wire Reports

Payao Poontarat, 49, a champion boxer who in 1976 won Thailand’s first Olympic medal, died Sunday of Lou Gehrig’s disease at a Bangkok hospital.

Poontarat was 19 when he captured a bronze medal at the Montreal Games. The onetime flower seller from the beach town of Bangsapan was celebrated as a national hero after his Olympic triumph. He later held the World Boxing Council super-flyweight crown.

In 2001, he won a seat in parliament. Almost a year later, he was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a degenerative muscle ailment often called Lou Gehrig’s disease.

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Thailand made its Olympic debut at the 1952 Helsinki Games. The country won boxing medals in every Olympics from the 1984 Games in Los Angeles through the 2004 Athens Games.

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