Gerald A. GRATTON

Gerry Gratton took up weightlifting in the 1940s and made his first major international appearance for Canada at the 1948 Summer Olympics, where he finished fifth in the middleweight division. His next stop was the 1950 British Empire Games, where he fared much better and won gold with a total lift of 795 pounds, 55 pounds more than silver medalist Bruce George of New Zealand. He returned to the Olympics in 1952 and originally won the middleweight competition, but the American delegation protested his form on his winning lift, which brought the decision to a seven-man jury of appeals. The American objection was upheld, Pete George took the gold medal, and Gratton was forced to settle for silver, although it made him Canada’s first Olympic medalist in weightlifting.

After the Games Gratton moved into the light-heavyweight division and won it at the 1954 British Empire and Commonwealth Games with a total lift of 890 pounds, 80 more than runner-up Louis Greeff of South Africa. He was due to compete in this category at the 1956 Summer Olympics, and was considered a medal favorite, but was disqualified after weighing in at just two ounces (100 grams) over the limit. His final major international tournament was the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games, where his 815 pound total lift was only good enough for fifth place. He retired from active competition shortly thereafter and died in 1963, at the age of 35, of injuries sustained in an automobile accident. He was made a member of the Canadian Olympic Hall of Fame in 1955 and, as of 2012, his Olympic weightlifting podium finish for Canada has only been duplicated twice: in 1984 by Jacques Demers and in 2012 by Christine Girard. All three were medalists in the middleweight division.