Russ Prior
Canadian weightlifter (1949–2017)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Russel "Russ" Prior (July 11, 1949 – February 17, 2017)[2] was a Canadian weightlifter, who represented Canada at international competitions.
| Personal information | |||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Full name | Russel Prior | ||||||||||||||
| Born | July 11, 1949 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada | ||||||||||||||
| Died | February 17, 2017 (aged 67)[1] | ||||||||||||||
| Height | 183 cm (6 ft 0 in)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Weight | 110 kg (243 lb)[2] | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | |||||||||||||||
| Country |  Canada | ||||||||||||||
| Sport | Weightlifting | ||||||||||||||
Weight class | 110 kg | ||||||||||||||
| Team | National team | ||||||||||||||
Medal record
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| Updated on 10 January 2017 | |||||||||||||||
Born in Hamilton, Ontario,[2] Prior first became interested in weightlifting at the age of 15, after reading about the lifting performance of a local resident in a newspaper. His father built a gym in their house's basement, and Prior won multiple events at the CANUSA Games. Three times – in 1970, 1974, and 1978 – Prior won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, along with those titles, he earned three Pan American Games gold medals.[3] After not being able to compete at the 1972 Summer Olympics due to a back injury,[3] he won the bronze medal in the 110 kg snatch at the 1976 World Weightlifting Championships, lifting 167.5 kg. He participated at the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 110 kg event,[4] and is credited with a ninth-place finish.[2] In 1978, Prior became the Commonwealth record-holder in the 110+ kg clean and jerk, by successfully lifting 210.5 kg.[5] Prior retired from the sport and moved to Winnipeg, where he became a high school teacher.[3]
