Michael Carruth, a southpaw Irish Olympic boxer, is born in Dublin on July 9, 1967. He is best known for winning the welterweight gold medal at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. He turns Pro in 1994 but retires in 2000.

Boxing as a lightweight at the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Korea, following a bye in the first round, Carruth defeats Satoru Higashi of Japan before being defeated by George Scott of Sweden.

In the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, Carruth steps up to the welterweight class. Following a bye in the round of 32, he defeats Mikaele Masoe of American Samoa on points in the round of 16. He defeats Andreas Otto of Germany on points in the quarter-finals and Arkhom Chenglai of Thailand in the semi-final. In the final he defeats Juan Hernández Sierra of Cuba on points.

Carruth’s medal is Ireland’s first ever gold medal in boxing, only a couple of hours after teammate Wayne McCullough has to settle for the silver in bantamweight. It is also the first Olympic gold medal for Ireland since Ron Delany won the Men’s 1500m event at the 1956 Summer Olympics in Melbourne, Australia.

Within a few days of Carruth winning his Olympic medal the Government of Ireland announces that he has been instantly promoted to sergeant within the Irish Army in recognition of his achievement at the Olympics. And, on the day of his return to Ireland, local pubs drop the price of beer to that of 1956.

Carruth turns pro in 1994 after taking leave from his job as a soldier in the Irish Army. He is trained by former Irish boxing great Steve Collins. He has limited success as a pro, losing in both of his defining pro bouts: in 1997 against Mihai Leu for the World Boxing Organization (WBO) Welterweight title and in 2000 against Adrian Stone for the International Boxing Organization (IBO) Light Middleweight title. He retires in 2000, after the loss to Stone, with a career professional record of 18-3-0.

In 2006, Carruth competes on the TV series Celebrity Jigs ‘n’ Reels. He serves as an expert boxing analyst for RTÉ‘s Olympic coverage in 2008, 2012 and 2016. In 2020, he appears in the fourth season of the Irish edition of Dancing with the Stars. He and his professional partner, Karen Byrne, are eliminated on February 3, 2020.

During his short spell as senior Westmeath county football team manager, Brendan Hackett appoints Carruth as masseur in 2009.