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Abby's builds big lead, holds on for 10-6 win
Newberg grad qualifies for U.S Olympic trials
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Benching records |
Newberg resident Bryan Chistenson, 80, sets a world
record by bench pressing 242 pounds |
By B. Scott Anderson, Newberg
Graphic sports editor
E-mail Scott at banderson@eaglenewspapers.com
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Barb Christenson can’t help it.
She enjoys talking about the accomplishments of 80-year-old Bryan,
her husband of 60 years.
Barb has good reason, too. After all, Bryan is a world record
holder in four divisions of the World Association of Bench and
Deadlifters. Not bad for a guy who has survived prostate
cancer, a collapsed lung, kidney failure and E.coli infection. To
top it off, Bryan had triple bypass surgery on his heart two years
ago and came back to set a world record of 242 pounds in the bench
press June 9 at the Iron Gladiator Great Northern Bench Press and
Deadlift Championships in Olympia, Wash. The previous world record
was 199 pounds.
“I’m bragging, but I
can’t help it,” she said. “He had a triple bypass two years ago and
we thought, ’Well, that’s the end of that.’ But not so.”
Bryan, a pastor, started his weightlifting career at the age of 45.
“I was just sitting around a lot and the doctor said I better get in
and do something,” he said.
So Bryan embarked on a journey of bench pressing. He began working
out three times per week, benching 225 pounds.
Bryan entered his first competition in Hood River in 1994 — at the
age of 67 — where he won first place. Even though he didn’t bench or
lift the most, Christenson was named the best overall lifter in the
competition due to calculations based on his age, body weight and
how much he lifted.
After the competition, Bryan was leaving, but over the public
address system, it was being announced who had placed as best
overall lifter. Christenson, who said he didn’t have a very good
competition, had passed a table where T-shirts of the event were
being sold and continued to walk right by without purchasing one. He
hadn’t planned on purchasing one — until he heard his name announced
as the winner as the best overall lifter.
“After I won, we started buying the T-shirts,” he said laughing.
“We ended up buying five of them.”
Fast forward a few years and Christenson has the world record in
his age group of 278 pounds he set in 1997, 294 and 292 pounds in
1998, 293 pounds in 2002 and 242 pounds this year. He’s been able to
do it while suffering all sorts of physical ailments that have come
on since the age of 67.
“That’s what happens when you get old,” he said, laughing.
After each scare, Christenson wasn’t sure if he would return to
working out. That was until he talked to his doctors.
“The doctors just kept saying to exercise,” Bryan said. “The reason
I lived through the heart attack was because I was otherwise
healthy.”
After he had prostate cancer surgery in 1994, Bryan didn’t waste
much time getting back to working out. He was out for roughly a week
or so.
“That was a snap,” he said. “(The doctors) just yanked it out.”
Almost as impressive as his feats of strength are what he’s been
able to do outside of the gym in recent years. He’s built a working
one-man “Helicycle” helicopter out of a kit for a friend, he
fabricated a Volkswagen Beetle to look like a pig for one of his
granddaughters, rebuilt a 1931 Model A for a friend last year and
he’s patented a wire-threading tool (the Oregon Thread-it) that
Verizon uses.
Bryan is always looking for a challenge. As far as his bench
pressing career goes, the world record in the next weight class up
(182-198) is 240 pounds. He’ll have his chance to compete and get
that record at the next competition in Aberdeen, Wash., in
September.
“So he’s already beat that record, so he might try it,” Barb said. |
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From
June 23, 2007, Newberg Graphic
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