Rosaire SMITH

The eldest of six children, Rosaire Smith was a farm worker and a general laborer who began working out his muscles in order to better help out his parents and bring in more money. He began training as a competitive weightlifter in 1933 and made his debut four years later at a provincial tournament in Montreal, where he placed second. By 1941 he was the North American champion, a title that he held for three years, and he received a bronze medal in the bantamweight (56 kg.) division at the 1947 World Weightlifting Championships. As of 2010, this is one of only 10 medals that Canada has received in the 120-year history of the competition. His next stop was the 1948 Summer Olympics, where he placed seventh out of nineteen competitors in the bantamweight event with a total lift of 277.5 kg. Two years later he captained the weightlifting delegation to the 1950 British Empire Games and took home a silver medal in his usual weight class. His final international competition was the 1952 Summer Olympics, where he placed ninth out of nineteen participants. In total he was Canadian champion 14 times, winning the tournament every time he entered, and held numerous provincial and local titles as well. He later worked as a trainer and a manager and continued to lift weights into his 80s.