It was a day of comebacks at the Georgia Games Powerlifting on Saturday at The Beast Sports Center in Gainesville, where past champions returned from illness and injury to reclaim gold medals.
George Bradley, 69, of Gainesville, a multi-time state, national and world champion, won the 65–69-year-old, 148-pound bench press only, equipped class with a lift of 130 pounds. Bradley’s return came just weeks before his 70th birthday.
Ron Domanico, 68, also made a triumphant return, capturing gold in the Masters 65–69, bench-only 198-pound class with a 300-pound press. Domanico, a member of the Georgia Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame, overcame a near-fatal illness and shoulder surgeries to compete again.
The oldest competitor was Clarence Smith, 81, of Cleveland, who pressed 175 pounds to win the 80+ age group, 242-pound class. The youngest was John Kirkland, 14, of Hamilton, who totaled 460 pounds in the 14-and-under, 220-pound push/pull division.
Other highlights included LaGrange College student John Craine, 20, of Augusta, who won the junior 181-pound bench-only class with a 265-pound lift. Veteran lifter and meet director R. Garry Glenn, 72, of Oakwood, pressed 300 pounds in the Masters 70–74, 220-pound class and then successfully attempted a record fourth lift of 305.
Glenn praised the support of Beast Sports Center staff, judges, and volunteers, calling his record lift “another ‘praise the Lord’ moment.”
The Georgia Games, founded ahead of the 1996 Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, continues to host multi-sport competitions across the state. More information is available at georgiagames.org.