Russ Prior

Russ Prior

Personal information
Full name	Russel Prior
Born	(1949-07-11)July 11, 1949 Hamilton, Ontario, Canada
Died	February 17, 2017(2017-02-17) (aged 67)
Height	183 cm (6 ft 0 in)
Weight	110 kg (243 lb)
Sport
Country	Canada
Sport	Weightlifting
Weight class	110 kg
Team	National team
Medal record Men's Weightlifting Representing Canada World Championships Bronze medal – third place 1976 110 kg (snatch)
Updated on 10 January 2017

Russel "Russ" Prior (July 11, 1949 – February 17, 2017) was a Canadian weightlifter, who represented Canada at international competitions.

Born in Hamilton, Ontario, Prior first became interested in weightlifting at the age of 15, after reading about the lifting performance of a local resident in a newspaper. His father built a gym in their house's basement, and Prior won multiple events at the CANUSA Games. Three times – in 1970, 1974, and 1978 – Prior won gold medals at the Commonwealth Games, along with those titles, he earned three Pan American Games gold medals. After not being able to compete at the 1972 Summer Olympics due to a back injury, he won the bronze medal in the 110 kg snatch at the 1976 World Weightlifting Championships, lifting 167.5 kg. He participated at the 1976 Summer Olympics in the 110 kg event, and is credited with a ninth-place finish. In 1978, Prior became the Commonwealth record-holder in the 110+ kg clean and jerk, by successfully lifting 210.5 kg. Prior retired from the sport and moved to Winnipeg, where he became a high school teacher.