Russ Prior

Russ Prior was involved in badminton and football as a high school athlete, but settled eventually on weightlifting. In 1970 he was named to Canada’s delegation to that year’s British Commonwealth Games after setting a national record in the heavyweight class, which was not the first time he had accomplished this in his career. Prior won the gold medal at the Games and would go on to defend his title at the 1974 and 1978 editions. He also won all three categories at the 1975 Pan American Games and participated at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where he finished ninth in a field of 22 competitors. The event was also considered part of that year’s World Championships, however, and Prior was awarded bronze in the snatch category, tying Tadeusz Rutkowski of Poland’s lift, but with a higher body weight. He also qualified for the 1980 Summer Olympics, but was unable to attend due to Canada’s joining of the American-led boycott.

Having suffered numerous serious injuries over his career, Prior decided to retire in 1980 and turned to coaching, with which he was involved until his death in 2017. He attended the McMaster University and graduated with a degree in political science, which led to a secondary career as a high school teacher.