Tofino weightlifter draws inspiration from dad to overcome injury and compete on world stage
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.”
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
More than 115 cases of eye damage reported in Ontario after solar eclipse
More than 115 people who viewed the solar eclipse in Ontario earlier this month experienced eye damage after the event, according to eye doctors in the province.
Toxic testing standoff: Family leaves house over air quality
A Sherwood Park family says their new house is uninhabitable. The McNaughton's say they were forced to leave the house after living there for only a week because contaminants inside made it difficult to breathe.
Decoy bear used to catch man who illegally killed a grizzly, B.C. conservation officers say
A man has been handed a lengthy hunting ban and fined thousands of dollars for illegally killing a grizzly bear, B.C. conservation officers say.
B.C. seeks ban on public drug use, dialing back decriminalization
The B.C. NDP has asked the federal government to recriminalize public drug use, marking a major shift in the province's approach to addressing the deadly overdose crisis.
OPP responds to apparent video of officer supporting anti-Trudeau government protestors
The Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) says it's investigating an interaction between a uniformed officer and anti-Trudeau government protestors after a video circulated on social media.
An emergency slide falls off a Delta Air Lines plane, forcing pilots to return to JFK in New York
An emergency slide fell off a Delta Air Lines jetliner shortly after takeoff Friday from New York, and pilots who felt a vibration in the plane circled back to land safely at JFK Airport.
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau on navigating post-political life, co-parenting and freedom
Sophie Gregoire Trudeau says there is 'still so much love' between her and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, as they navigate their post-separation relationship co-parenting their three children.
Last letters of pioneering climber who died on Everest reveal dark side of mountaineering
George Mallory is renowned for being one of the first British mountaineers to attempt to scale the dizzying heights of Mount Everest during the 1920s. Nearly a century later, newly digitized letters shed light on Mallory’s hopes and fears about ascending Everest.
Loud boom in Hamilton caused by propane tank, police say
A loud explosion was heard across Hamilton on Friday after a propane tank was accidentally destroyed and detonated at a local scrap metal yard, police say.