Precious Patrick McKenzie (born 6 June 1936) is a South African-born former

weightlifter Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift ...

who won

Commonwealth A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the ...

titles representing both England and New Zealand and has won several World

powerlifting Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

and Masters World powerlifting titles. He is of diminutive stature at 1.45m (4' 9").

Career

Born in

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

, South Africa, Precious McKenzie suffered from ill-health during his childhood. An ambition to be a circus performer ended because of South Africa's race laws and this led him to weight training and weightlifting. Although he was ranked the best weightlifter in his weight category in South Africa, he was barred from representing his country at the

1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games The 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games (Welsh: Gemau Ymerodraeth Prydain a'r Gymanwlad 1958) were held in Cardiff, Wales, from 18–26 July 1958. Thirty-five nations sent a total of 1,130 athletes and 228 officials to the Cardiff Games ...

that year. Because he was classified as "

Coloured Coloureds ( af, Kleurlinge or , ) refers to members of multiracial ethnic communities in Southern Africa who may have ancestry from more than one of the various populations inhabiting the region, including African, European, and Asian. South ...

" under the

apartheid Apartheid (, especially South African English: , ; , "aparthood") was a system of institutionalised racial segregation that existed in South Africa and South West Africa (now Namibia) from 1948 to the early 1990s. Apartheid was ...

regime he was also excluded from the South African team for the 1960 Rome Olympiad. In 1963, he was told he could be included in the South African team for the 1964 Olympics, provided he was segregated from the white members of the team. He refused and left South Africa for Britain in 1964 with his wife and young family. British minister for sport,

Denis Howell Denis Herbert Howell, Baron Howell (4 September 1923 – 19 April 1998) was a British Labour Party politician. He was a councillor on Birmingham City Council between 1946 and 1956. He was the Member of Parliament for Birmingham All Saints fro ...

, fast-tracked his citizenship application to allow him to compete for England in the 1966 Commonwealth Games in

Jamaica Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...

where he won gold. Initially working as a

clicker A clicker, sometimes called a cricket, is any device that makes a clicking sound, usually when deliberately activated by its user. They usually consist of a piece of thin metal or plastic held in a casing so that the metal is slightly torqued; ...

in a Northampton shoe factory, he moved to

Bristol Bristol () is a city, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Gloucestershire to the north and Somerset to the south. Bristol is the most populous city in ...

where he completed a Physical Education degree. McKenzie competed in three Empire and Commonwealth Games representing England and at three Olympics (1968, 1972 and 1976) representing

Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...

. As a result of contacts made during the 1974 Commonwealth Games in

Christchurch Christchurch ( ; mi, Ōtautahi) is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand and the seat of the Canterbury Region. Christchurch lies on the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula on Pegasus Bay. The Avon River / ...

, New Zealand, he decided to settle in that country, where he was offered the opportunity to be a weight trainer in a gym. He settled in the North Island city of

Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The List of New Zealand urban areas by population, most populous urban area in the country and the List of cities in Oceania by po ...

and won his fourth Commonwealth gold representing New Zealand at the age of 42 at the

1978 Commonwealth Games The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec. They were boycotted by Nigeria, in protest at New Zealand's sporting contacts with apar ...

Edmonton Edmonton ( ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Alberta. Edmonton is situated on the North Saskatchewan River and is the centre of the Edmonton Metropolitan Region, which is surrounded by Alberta's central region. The city ancho ...

. He has won more Commonwealth and world medals in his sport than any other person, competing in both the bantam and flyweight divisions. McKenzie has one of the longest-held world records in sports, (possibly the longest-held current record): 37 years. His 607kg (1,339 lb) total in the 123 lb class, was achieved in 1979. He subsequently became a private consultant in the field of back injury prevention and the New Zealand Safety Council's Manual Handling Advisor, running courses in New Zealand, Australia,

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

, the United Kingdom and United States. In 2006 he was recognised by his native country with an induction into the

South African Sports Hall of Fame South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþaz ...

. In 2008, a film was planned about his life. A New Zealand-based father-son team had a screenplay and sought funding in Cannes. They hoped to start shooting in South Africa by early November 2008. The relationship between McKenzie and the film makers deteriorated and ended in 2012 when McKenzie became disappointed with the slow pace of progress.

Documentary film

*McKenzie was one of nine athletes featured in a

National Film Board of Canada The National Film Board of Canada (NFB; french: Office national du film du Canada (ONF)) is Canada's public film and digital media producer and distributor. An agency of the Government of Canada, the NFB produces and distributes documentary f ...

documentary on the Edmonton Commonwealth Games, '' Going the Distance'' (1979).

References

External links

Biography at his website
archived fro

on 20 January 2018 {{DEFAULTSORT:McKenzie, Precious 1936 births Living people Sportspeople from Durban New Zealand male weightlifters Members of the Order of the British Empire South African emigrants to New Zealand Weightlifters at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Weightlifters at the 1978 Commonwealth Games Commonwealth Games gold medallists for England Commonwealth Games gold medallists for New Zealand Olympic weightlifters of Great Britain Weightlifters at the 1968 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1972 Summer Olympics Weightlifters at the 1976 Summer Olympics Coloured South African people Commonwealth Games medallists in weightlifting Medallists at the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1970 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1974 British Commonwealth Games Medallists at the 1978 Commonwealth Games