Pascal Plamondon

Biography

Pascal Plamondon had a breakthrough performance at the 2014 Commonwealth Games where he finished tied for second in the 85kg weight class with 333kg lifted, but won the bronze medal based on body weight. Plamondon won the 2014 national title in the 85kg weight class after lifting a Canadian record 156kg in the snatch, breaking a mark that had stood since 1996. He defended his title in 2015. At that summer’s Pan Am Games in Toronto, he increased the 85kg snatch national record to 157kg and the total national record in the weight class to 343kg as he just missed the podium with a fourth place finish. In April 2016 Plamondon set a national record in the clean and jerk, lifting 189kg. He followed that up in June with a bronze medal at the Pan American Championships before making his Olympic debut at Rio 2016. The young lifter began competing internationally in 2011 and has made three appearances at the senior world championships, posting a top result of 18^th in 2015.

Getting to know…

Family: Parents Jocelyn Plamondon and Natalie Lavallée… Getting into the Sport: Started weightlifting at age 13… Outside Interests: Works part-time as a firefighter after graduating the Fire Safety Techniques program at Cégep Montmorency… As a rookie, fought the major fire in Lac-Mégantic resulting from the 74-car train derailment in July 2013…