David Morgan (born 30 September 1964) is a Welsh

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

. Morgan won the British under-16 championship in 1979. He became the youngest ever

Commonwealth Games The Commonwealth Games is a quadrennial international multi-sport event among athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations, which consists mostly, but not exclusively, of territories of the former British Empire. The event was first held in 1930 ...

weightlifting champion in 1982 at

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, at 17 years of age. Competing in the lightweight class (67.5 kg), he achieved 132.5 kg in the snatch and 162.5 kg in the

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 rest ...

to defeat former champion Basil (Bill) Stellios of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. Morgan is the only competitor to win medals in six different Commonwealth Games, with victories in 1982, 1986, 1990, 1994, 1998, and 2002. He won two gold and one silver medals in 2002 at

Manchester Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

(with 145 kg in the snatch and 160 in the clean and jerk), bringing his career medal total to twelve (nine gold, three silver). Morgan recorded his best attempt in the snatch at the 1984 Junior World Championships, with a lift of 150 kg which gave him the gold in the snatch in the 75 kg class. He then went on to finish second overall after a clean and jerk of 180k. This was the first time in 27 years that a British weightlifter has won a gold medal in a world championship. Morgan placed fourth in the

1984 Summer Olympics The 1984 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXIII Olympiad and commonly known as Los Angeles 1984) were an international multi-sport event held from July 28 to August 12, 1984, in Los Angeles, California, United States. It marked the ...

. At the

1988 Summer Olympics The 1988 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIV Olympiad () and officially branded as Seoul 1988 (), were an international multi-sport event held from 17 September to 2 October 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. 159 nations were represe ...

Seoul Seoul, officially Seoul Special Metropolitan City, is the capital city, capital and largest city of South Korea. The broader Seoul Metropolitan Area, encompassing Seoul, Gyeonggi Province and Incheon, emerged as the world's List of cities b ...

, Morgan competed in the 82.5 kg class and finished fourth again with a total of 365 kg. David Morgan is also the only person in history to have won overall gold in 5 commonwealth games. He worked for 10 years as a commentator for

Eurosport Eurosport is a group of pay television networks in Europe and parts of Asia, owned and operated by Warner Bros. Discovery through its WBD Sports unit, it operates two main channels—Eurosport 1 and Eurosport 2—across most of its territorie ...

, appeared on the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

show "They Think It's All Over" with

Jonathan Ross Jonathan Stephen Ross (born 17 November 1960) is an English broadcaster, film critic, comedian, actor, writer, and producer. He presented the BBC One chat show '' Friday Night with Jonathan Ross'' during the 2000s and early 2010s, hosted his ow ...

and

David Gower David Ivon Gower (born 1 April 1957) is an English cricket commentator and former cricketer who was captain of the England cricket team during the 1980s. Described as one of the most stylish left-handed batsmen of his era, Gower played 117 T ...

. For charity, he climbed

Mount Kilimanjaro Mount Kilimanjaro () is a dormant volcano in Tanzania. It is the highest mountain in Africa and the highest free-standing mountain above sea level in the world, at above sea level and above its plateau base. It is also the highest volcano i ...

and took part in

Comic Relief Comic Relief is a British charity, founded in 1986 by the comedy scriptwriter Richard Curtis and comedian Sir Lenny Henry in response to the 1983–1985 famine in Ethiopia. The concept of Comic Relief was to get British comedians to make t ...

in 2004. Morgan was inducted into the Welsh Sports Hall Of Fame in 2013. In his private life, he married his wife Rosalind in 2010. In 2007 Morgan published his book "Be Your Best: The Smart Way to Improve Your Fitness, Shape and Mind Paperback" with Virgin. He was appointed

Member of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(MBE) in the

2020 New Year Honours The 2020 New Year Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms to various orders and honours to recognise and reward good works by citizens of those countries. The New Year Honours are awarded as part of the New Year celebratio ...

for services to weightlifting. He is still working as a private trainer in Cambridge and advocates weight training for people of all ages to improve their health and slow down aging.Morgan . . . The One-Man Golden Era Of Welsh Sport Earns Another Gong''
Interview in Dai Sport on 20 February 2020

References

External links