Ron Strong, a retired truck driver who became one of Canada’s most celebrated powerlifters, has been inducted into the Canada Powerlifting Hall of Fame. It’s a fitting honour for an athlete whose career has defied both convention and time. Strong got a late start in the game and took up competitive powerlifting when he was 40 with a goal to get in shape to play hockey. He balanced his full-time job as a truck driver and powerlifting. Strong quickly found himself chasing goals and travelling around the world. “Coming from a hockey world where you wanted to beat up your competition every day, I enjoyed the camaraderie of powerlifting, and I didn’t have to worry about who I had to beat,” he said. “It was all about beating myself and getting better.” He went on to become a 15-time Canadian champion and is also a world champion. At the age of 60, he pulled a 632-pound deadlift and broke a world record at the 2019 World Championships in Sweden squatting 518 pounds at the age of 61. Strong continues to lift. “I’ve always respected my body, listened to it I guess, is the right way to say it. When something’s off, then you know respect what your body’s trying to tell you. Take care of it. It’s the only one we got. And yeah, I don’t see any reason to quit anytime soon so I’m hoping for another four or five more good years in me,” said the 68-year-old. The induction cements the legacy as an athlete who has and continues to train and mentor young rising powerlifters.
