Jasvir Singh (born April 13, 1977 in Karnana, India) is a Canadian weightlifter of Indian origin. He qualified for the men's featherweight category at the

2008 Summer Olympics The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Na ...

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, by finishing seventh from the Pan American Weightlifting Championships in Callao, Peru. He is also a five-time Indian and a three-time Canadian champion. Singh started his sporting career as a sixteen-year-old high school student in the small village of Punjab. In 2002, he came to

Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

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on a working visa, and also, in hopes for a more promising future and better life. While staying in Canada, Singh was unable to travel to international weightlifting competitions, and barred from participating in prestigious national events. He was discovered by former Olympian and coach Guy Greavette, who perceived him as a powerful athlete and quickly helped him build a sport. Singh made his international debut as part of the Canadian team at the 2003 World Wrestling Championships in Vancouver, and eventually attained numerous successes by winning back-to-back national titles. In 2007, he gained his landed immigrant status, and held a dual citizenship with Canada, making him eligible to compete for the Olympics. Singh became the first weightlifter from British Columbia to represent

at the 2008 Summer Olympics, since his head coach Greavette did so in

1988 File:1988 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The oil platform Piper Alpha explodes and collapses in the North Sea, killing 165 workers; The USS Vincennes (CG-49) mistakenly shoots down Iran Air Flight 655; Australia celebrates its Australian ...

. In the men's featherweight class, he successfully lifted 115 kg for the single-motion snatch, and hoisted 151 kg more for the two-part, shoulder-to-overhead

clean and jerk The clean and jerk is a composite of two weightlifting movements, most often performed with a barbell: the clean and the jerk. During the ''clean'', the lifter moves the barbell from the floor to a racked position across the deltoids, without res ...

, to combine a total of 266 kg, finishing in twelfth place.

References

External links

Profile – Canadian Olympic Team
Canadian male weightlifters Canadian people of Punjabi descent Indian emigrants to Canada 1977 births Living people Olympic weightlifters for Canada Weightlifters at the 2008 Summer Olympics Sportspeople from Burnaby {{Canada-weightlifting-bio-stub