Terry Perdue

Terry Perdue started weightlifting in his early teens at the Brynhyfryd gymnasium near Swansea in the mid-1950s and went on to become one of the leading Welsh weightlifters of his time. Perdue competed at the 1968 and 1972 Olympics, finishing tenth on both occasions, and at the 1969 and 1973 World Weightlifting Championships finished eighth and ninth respectively. His best results, however, were in the British Commonwealth Games when he won silver at Edinburgh in 1970, losing the gold medal on weight difference, and bronze at Christchurch, New Zealand, four years later.

Perdue was the father of 11 children and two of them, daughter Natasha and son Terrence, were also international weightlifters. Terrence appeared at three Commonwealth Games and was a reserve for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

In March 1971, scrap metal dealer Terry Perdue was sentenced to four years imprisonment for stealing £10,000 worth of metal casing from British Steel. He was released nine months later after his original sentence was quashed by the appeal court in London. Perdue maintained his weight and fitness while in prison but, despite a request to the Governor, was not allowed out on a one-day pass to defend his British super-heavyweight title in May 1971. After his eventual release, he was selected for the 1972 Olympics. Sadly, Terry Perdue suffered the first of two strokes in 1986 and died suddenly at his home at Townhill, Swansea, in 1998 aged 57.