Francis Luna-Grenier

Francis Luna-Grenier (born May 24, 1987 in Montreal, Quebec) is a Canadian weightlifter.[1] He qualified for the men's lightweight category at the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, by finishing fourth from the Pan American Weightlifting Championships in Callao, Peru.[2] He also achieved two top-ten finishes at the Junior World Championships in 2006 and in 2007.

Francis Luna-Grenier
Francis Luna-Grenier lifts during the men's 69 kg weightlifting competition at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto
Personal information
Nationality Canada
Born (1987-05-12) May 12, 1987
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Weight69 kg (152 lb)
Sport
SportWeightlifting
Event(s)69 kg
ClubClub d'Haltérophilie de Montréal
Coached byAndre Kulesza (CAN)
Medal record
Pan American Games
2015 Toronto – 69 kg

Luna-Grenier started his sporting career at the age of thirteen, when he was discovered at a summer day camp by Mario Parente, a certified national Olympic weightlifter from the 1984 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles, and a coach, who quickly shaped him into an elite athlete. Two years later, Luna-Grenier became a Canadian senior national champion, and aimed to become the nation's first weightlifter to capture an Olympic gold medal, when he was featured as The Gazette's Amateur Athlete of the Week.[3] In 2006, Luna-Grenier, however, was devastated upon the death of his coach Parente from an apparent heart attack, but had forged on with the guidance of Andre Kulesza, who administered and worked as the head coach for Club d'Haltérophilie de Montréal.[4] Despite of his former coach's sudden loss, Luna-Grenier had captured numerous sporting successes, including his seventh-place finish at the 2006 Commonwealth Games in Melbourne, Australia, and top-ten finishes from the Junior World Championships.

At the 2008 Summer Olympics, Luna-Grenier successfully lifted 131 kg in the single-motion snatch, and hoisted 172 kg more in the two-part, shoulder-to-overhead clean and jerk, to combine a total of 293 kg, finishing in seventeenth place.[5] His sporting effort tied him with Sri Lanka's Chinthana Vidanage, who ranked atop the group for weighing seven hundredths of a kilogram less than his weight.[4]

References
  1. Evans, Hilary; Gjerde, Arild; Heijmans, Jeroen; Mallon, Bill; et al. "Francis Luna-Grenier". Olympics at Sports-Reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. Archived from the original on 2020-04-18. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  2. "U.S. weightlifting men's team qualifies for two Olympic slots". Xinhua News Agency. 24 March 2008. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  3. Basu, Arpon (28 May 2008). "Weightlifter's coach left a legacy". Canada.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  4. Stubbs, Dave (11 August 2008). "Olympic debut lifts weight off Luna-Grenier's shoulders". Canada.com. Archived from the original on 18 January 2013. Retrieved 11 December 2012.
  5. "Men's 69kg (152 lbs)". NBC Olympics. Archived from the original on 30 July 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2012.


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