Ramon (Ray) Gary Epstein, (born 14 October 1959) is an Australian Paralympic weightlifter and

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 ...

coach. He represented Australia in weightlifting at the 1988 Seoul and 1992 Barcelona Paralympics and was Head Coach of the Australian Paralympic powerlifting team between 2003 and 2013.

Personal

Epstein was born in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the states and territories of Australia, Australian state of Queensland, and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a populati ...

. He became a paraplegic in 1972 following a gym accident. He became a member of the

Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association The Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association is the peak body for sport, recreation and fitness for people with a physical disability or visual impairment, vision impairment in the Australian state of Queensland. The not-for-profit organisatio ...

in 1977 and competed in a number of sports including

wheelchair basketball Wheelchair basketball is basketball played by people with varying physical disabilities that disqualify them from playing a non-disabled sport. These include spina bifida, birth defects, cerebral palsy, paralysis due to accident, amputations (of ...

and athletics before focusing on weightlifting. He was admitted as a Chartered Accountant in 1985 and joined the Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association as Administration and Finance Manager in 1990. He was the chief executive officer of the Association from 1998 to December 2016, and was appointed to the Board of the

Queensland Academy of Sport The Queensland Academy of Sport (QAS) is an elite sports institute set up in 1991 by the Queensland Government to support athletes in the state of Queensland. Its headquarters are currently located at the Queensland Sport and Athletics Centre in ...

in 2008. In 2002, his wife Vicki wrote the book ''Step by step we conquer : the story of Queensland's Sporting Wheelies and Disabled Association''.

Sporting career

Ramon_Epstein_lifting_at_the_1992_Paralympic_Games

Epstein competed in state, national and international weightlifting/powerlifting (

bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

) competitions for athletes with a disability from 1979 to 1995. He took a break from competition in 1983–84 to pursue a professional qualification in accounting. He represented Australia at 12 international competitions, including the 1988 Seoul Paralympic Games and

1992 Barcelona Games The 1992 Summer Olympics ( es, Juegos Olímpicos de Verano de 1992, ca, Jocs Olímpics d'estiu de 1992), officially known as the Games of the XXV Olympiad ( es, Juegos de la XXV Olimpiada, ca, Jocs de la XXV Olimpíada) and commonly known as ...

, where he was male Captain of the Australian Team. His career highlights included silver medals at the World Wheelchair Weightlifting Championships in 1990 ( Saint-Etienne, France) and 1991 (

Rhode Island Rhode Island (, like ''road'') is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It is the List of U.S. states by area, smallest U.S. state by area and the List of states and territories of the United States ...

, United States), and gold medals and world records in the 56 kg division at the 1993 World Cup in

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England; ...

, England and the 1994 World Wheelchair Weightlifting Championships (Melbourne). During his career, he held Australian records in five separate body weight categories from 48 kg to 67.5 kg bodyweight divisions. He was a scholarship holder under the elite athlete programs of the

Australian Institute of Sport The Australian Institute of Sport (AIS) is a high performance sports training institution in Australia. The Institute's headquarters were opened in 1981 and are situated in the northern suburb of Bruce, Canberra. The AIS is a division of the ...

(1992 and 1995) and the Queensland Academy of Sport (1992–1995). Following his retirement in 1995, he became an accredited IPC Powerlifting Referee.

Coaching career

Epstein started coaching towards the end of his lifting career due to a shortage of powerlifting coaching staff in Australia at that time. He was appointed Assistant National Coach Powerlifting in 1999 and became National Head Coach Powerlifting in 2003. He was Assistant Coach of the powerlifting team at the

2000 Sydney Paralympics The 2000 Summer Paralympic Games or the XI Summer Paralympics were held in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, between 18 and 29 October. The Sydney Paralympics was last time that the Summer Paralympics which were organized by two different ...

and Head Coach for the

2004 Athens The 2004 Summer Olympics ( el, Θερινοί Ολυμπιακοί Αγώνες 2004, ), officially the Games of the XXVIII Olympiad ( el, Αγώνες της 28ης Ολυμπιάδας, ) and also known as Athens 2004 ( el, Αθήνα 2004), ...

2008 Beijing 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 ...

, and 2012 London Paralympic Games. Notable powerlifters coached by Epstein include dual Paralympic silver medalist Darren Gardiner,

Abebe Fekadu Abebe Fekadu (born 20 April 1970) is an Ethiopian Australian powerlifter. He competed at the 2008 Summer Paralympics, where he finished tenth. He was selected to represent Australia at the 2012 Summer Paralympics in powerlifting. He did not me ...

, and pioneering female lifters Julie Russell and Deahnne McIntyre. He announced his retirement as Australian Paralympic Powerlifting head coach in July 2013.

Recognition

Epstein was awarded a Medal of the

Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

(OAM) in the 1994 Queen's Birthday Honours List for services to people with a disability and the sport of weightlifting, and received an

Australian Sports Medal The Australian Sports Medal is an award given to recognise achievements in Australian sport to commemorate Australian participation in major sporting events. Original recipients of the award included competitors, coaches, sports scientists, offi ...

in 2000. He was named the Coach of the Year by the

in 1998, 2004, and 2006. He won the Inspiring Individual Award at the 2014 Queensland Disability Awards. At the 2016 Queensland Sport Awards, he was awarded a Service to Sport Award.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Epstein, Ray Paralympic weightlifters for Australia Weightlifters at the 1988 Summer Paralympics Weightlifters at the 1992 Summer Paralympics Recipients of the Medal of the Order of Australia Recipients of the Australian Sports Medal Weightlifters from Brisbane Paralympic coaches of Australia Australian Institute of Sport Athletes with a Disability alumni Coaches at the 2000 Summer Paralympics Coaches at the 2004 Summer Paralympics Coaches at the 2008 Summer Paralympics Coaches at the 2012 Summer Paralympics 1959 births Living people 20th-century Australian people 21st-century Australian people