Tofino weightlifter draws inspiration from dad to overcome injury and compete on world stage

Tofino, B.C. -

Despite his big body, Cpl. Greg Young rarely has to employ it while keeping his small community safe.

“I think I’m a pretty soft spoken, gentle person,” Greg smiles. “I think that helps me along.”

Long before he strived to become an RCMP member, Greg dreamed of being a strongman like his dad Terry Young.

“He’d just be coming into the weight room and be playing around,” Terry recalls with a smile.

There’s a picture of Greg as a boy standing on a pile of weights watching his dad lift.

“I kind of grew up chasing his footsteps,” Greg says.

The steps were big and included a stop at the world masters championships, where Terry won gold.

“That was a pretty happy moment for our family,” Greg says, pointing out photos of his dad competing.

The pictures hang on the wall of Greg’s home gym, where they provide motivation for Greg to train up to four hours a day.

“It’s constantly challenging,” Greg says. “But it’s pretty rewarding.”

If the most rewarding thing was beginning to realize his dream of being a powerlifter like his dad, the most devastating thing was to have it crushed by a broken back.

“Definitely painful,” Greg says. “And frustrating.”

Although a series of surgeries (including a spinal fusion) fixed his injury, it left Greg unable to lift like before.

“You can choose to lie down and die,” Greg says. “Or just move in a different direction.”

So Greg made the tough decision to stop pursuing three-point power-lifting (squat, deadlift, and bench-press), and start focusing on just the bench-press.

Eventually Greg realized what he calls “the gift of injury.”

“I think I could have been a pretty good powerlifter,” he says. “But I think I became a pretty great bench-presser.”

“He was lifting these enormous weights I could never dream of,” Terry says.

When Greg realized that the weight he was lifting in his home gym (up to 580 pounds) was better than what we being benched at the world championships, he took a chance, and invited his dad to try competing again too.

“He originally inspired me,” Greg says. “I think this time around, I inspired him.”

“The coach is being coached,” Terry laughs.

The father and son have motivated each other over the past few world championships to both earn a place on the podium, winning bronze, silver, and gold medals.

“You get a lot of joy to watch him and be there with him,” Terry says proudly.

And Greg is finding that, even better than achieving the dream of following in your dad’s footsteps, is overcoming adversity, and walking right beside him.

“I don’t think many people have the opportunity to do something like this with their dad,” Greg smiles. “It’s a pretty remarkable feeling.”