In 1964 Dixon was granted leave from the army to participate in the 1964 Winter Olympics at Innsbruck and it was here that he won the gold medal in the Two-man Bobsleigh as brakeman to Tony Nash and was awarded a MBE a year later.
Dixon retained his sporting links throughout his life: he was President of the Jury at the 1976 Winter Olympics, set up the Ulster Games Foundation in 1983, and was appointed Chairman of the Northern Ireland Tall Ships Council in 1987.