Marcel Perron is weightlifting champion at 90

At 90 years old, Marcel Perron still has the sacred fire and he won the title of Grand Master at the Masters Weightlifting Championships two weeks ago.

You may remember Mr. Perron since he was the subject of a series of reports published at the beginning of the summer on athletes who were still invested in their sport despite their advanced age.

On August 18, in Wieliczka, Poland, the Montrealer blew away the competition by winning the title of Grand Master.

He then competes in the category of “young people”, the 85 years old, because there is no category for the 90 years old and over.

That’s pretty good for an enthusiast who started weightlifting in 1948 and took a break in 1976 to run marathons for a few years before returning to his first love.

Dissatisfied

The weightlifter not only won the title in his category, but also triumphed over all the athletes present.

“I was aiming for the Grand Master. Each athlete has a coefficient depending on their weight, age and what they lift. I did 538 on average and the second did 430 or 440”, he explains.

But he is still not satisfied with his result. He wanted to get a better score.

“I’m disappointed because I could have averaged 600. And the guys know in Tornon that I’m not satisfied.

The coefficient takes into account the results in the snatch and the clean and jerk.

Marcel Perron trains five times a week for at least two hours.

Chantal Poirier / JdeM

Harsh judges

And how to explain that he failed to achieve his goal? Because the judges were a bit harsh.

“In the snatch, I gained 40 kilos. My goal was to do at least 100 kilos in total.

He was almost there, but the judges decided otherwise.

“All three clean and jerks were disallowed because I was happy to have landed 50 kilos and excitedly lifted my leg and the judges ruled my attempts invalid.

“In time, maybe I will learn,” he says ironically.

Immortal

Marcel Perron was on his sixth or seventh victory as Grand Master, he is no longer sure.

He also received a fine honor by being inducted into the Hall of Fame of the International Association of Masters in Weightlifting.

“I was supposed to receive it last year, but I couldn’t take part in the competition which was taking place in the United States. »

Marcel Perron is already starting to think about the next world championship, which will take place in Finland next summer. But for the moment, he has to treat an injury to his left wrist which is bothering him.

“I don’t have a competition scheduled before 2024.”

But he continues to train since he is at the gym five mornings a week. He only trains “two hours” a day, whereas he used to train up to three hours a day. We know many young people who do less.

Marcel Perron started weightlifting in 1948. This photo dates from 1962.

COURTESY

Help

Mr. Perron does not know exactly how much his trip to Poland cost him, but he received many supports to allow him to go there.

The ProGym, where he trains, offered him financial assistance. In addition, customers have been generous to him by making donations in a large carafe of water emptied for the occasion. It was not uncommon to see $50 or $100 bills in the container during the summer.

In addition, the owner of Meubles Reno offered him $2,600 to pay for his plane ticket.

journaldemontreal

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