Bob Santavy

Bob Santavy was inspired to weightlift by his uncle, the well-known Joe Turcotte. He was first selected to represent Canada at the 1967 Pan American Games, after winning that year’s national championships in the middle-heavyweight category, but failed to medal at that tournament. He defended his national title the following year and was selected for the delegation to the 1970 British Commonwealth Games, where he won a silver medal. His next international appearance would not come until 1975 when, now competing as a heavyweight, he won a bronze medal at the Pan American Games. It was in this division that he competed at the 1976 Summer Olympics, where he came in 16th out of 22 entrants.

Santavy’s final major international tournament was the 1978 Commonwealth Games, where he took bronze in the sub-heavyweight category. He later worked as a coach, including for his son Dalas, who also represented Canada at the Commonwealth and Pan-American Games. At the time of his death in June 2018, two of his grandchildren, Noah and Boady, had also competed internationally in weightlifting.