Brother Dalas Santavy of Lodge 128 was the head coach of the Canadian Olympic weightlifting team in Tokyo this summer. Dalas reports “The Canadian weightlifting team did an outstanding job at these Olympics, the summer heat of Tokyo along with COVID-19 added extra stress to the event.”
Under Dalas’ leadership the Canada’s Olympic weightlifting team did an outstanding job representing their country. Below are the results:
| Name | Place | Weight Class |
|---|---|---|
| Rachel Leblanc Bassinet | 12th | 55KG woman |
| Tali Darsigny | 11th | 59KG Woman |
| Kristel Ngarlem | 8th | 76KG Woman |
| Boady Santavy | 4th | 96KG Men |
| Maude Charron | 1st – Gold Medal | 64KG women |
Head Coach Dalas Santavy with Gold Medal Champion Maude Charron of Canada
Coach Santavy, a national champion and international competitor in the sport himself, said “It was thrilling when Maude won the gold medal, plus we heard our national anthem play while watching our flag rise up.” Dalas explained how proud he was of the two assistant coaches for the Olympic weightlifting team “They did an outstanding job, I’m very proud of them all and the role they played in helping our athletes to achieve success.”
Dalas shared his experience at the Olympics saying “One thing for sure, Tokyo was crazy hot. The experience of the Olympics was magical even though we were confined to the athletes’ village when not training or competing. The cardboard beds weren’t all that comfortable. We were lucky because a couple years ago we got to experience Tokyo at the Junior Worlds. The Japanese culture was incredible! Such a hospitable nation. The food in the village was really good and the volunteers that made this all happen were amazing! We lucked out to because we got to order from Uber eats, so we ended up ordering Japanese cuisine a few times while we were there such as Wagyu beef, Wagyu Burgers and some other traditional foods.”
In addition to being the head coach, Dalas’ son was on the team. “I’ve worked with my son Boady since he was 6 years old, and it’s been a long journey to get to this point to say the least! I’m so proud of him for the performance that he did because it’s the biggest total by any Canadian in any Olympic Games in history in probably the toughest weight class (96 KGs) in the games. So now it’s time for a small rest then it’s back to training hard because next summer is the Commonwealth Games then the summer after that is the Pan American Games then back to the Olympics in 2024. It’s always an honour to represent Canada.”
Embed from Getty Images
Canada’s Boady Robert Santavy reacts after competing in the men’s 96kg weightlifting competition during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games at the Tokyo International Forum in Tokyo on July 31, 2021. (Photo by Luis ACOSTA / AFP) (Photo by LUIS ACOSTA/AFP via Getty Images)
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