St. Thomas Aquinas's Elliott Hayton has captured the bronze medal at the Canadian Powerlifting Union National championships in Ottawa this week. The Grade 12 student said it was an exciting and rewarding moment when he realized he'd finished third competing against athletes from across the country.
"Flying all this way, putting in months of hard work, it all paid off. It all came together and it was all a good use of time," he said.
During the event, each athlete must complete a deadlift, squat and bench press. They have three tries at each to lift their maximum weight. Once the three tries are complete their best weight in each event is added together to come up with a total weight and whoever has the most wins.
"It's kind of frightening walking up there, but I just played my music super loud, got amped up and tried not to think about it too much," said Hayton.
He squatted 385 lbs, benched 205 lbs, and deadlifted 430 lbs for a total of 1,020 lbs earning him the bronze medal.
Hayton trains in Kenora but is coached by his trainer in Brooklyn, New York.
"I have a training interface online and he'll send me workouts on there. We'll video call, text and email to communicate," he said.
In his final year of high school, Hayton says he hopes to continue powerlifting at University and has actually applied to three universities that have powerlifting teams.