Billy Cooke (weightlifter)
Northern Irish weightlifter
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Billy Cooke (born c.1933) is a former weightlifter and strongman from Northern Ireland, who represented Northern Ireland at the British Empire and Commmonwealth Games (now Commonwealth Games).
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality | British (Northern Irish) |
| Born | c.1933[1] |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Weightlifting |
Event | Middleweight |
| Club | Belfast Health Studios |
Biography
Cooke was a member of the Belfast Health Studios and at the 1958 All-Ireland championships, he won the Senior Mr Ireland title.[2]
Cooke represented the 1958 Northern Irish Team[3] at the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games in Cardiff, Wales,[4] participating in the 75kg middleweight.[5]
After the Games in November 1958, Cooke retained his middleweight title at the Irish Weightlifting Championships.[6] In 1959 he finished runner-up in the Mr Great Britain competition and in June 1959, he left Belfast to take an appointment in Bermuda, where he would work as a physical training instructor in a prison.[1]
A winner of his class at the Mr Universe in Montreal, he returned home to Belfast in June 1961.[7] He had a long-time association with Buster McShane, one of Ireland's best known strongman.[8]
