Boady Santavy, 17, poses with junior and senior kindergarten students at Rosedale Public School, after winning three gold medals in weightlifting in Peru.
Glenn Ogilvie
Boady Santavy went to the Pan American Youth Weightlifting Championships in Lima, Peru with one goal in mind - to come home with a gold medal.
He did just that and then some, capturing no fewer than three gold medals.
Despite being the lightest competitor in his weight class the Sarnian, who celebrates his 17th birthday on May 22, won the snatch, clean and jerk and total titles in the 85 kg. class.
His winning snatch of 130 kg. came within seven kilograms of a Pan American youth record.
"I was really nervous," said the mild-mannered St. Patrick's High School student. "But I thought I had a pretty good chance to win.”
He is now ranked seventh in the world in his weight class.
And when it was done, Santavy stood atop the medal podium, flanked by lifters from Mexico and Chile, and heard O Canada while the Maple Leaf was raised to the rafters.
"I don't have any words to describe what it felt like," he said. "It was a great feeling, really amazing."
To add to the feeling, Santavy's father and coach Dalas Santavy was asked by the weightlifting officials to award the medals.
"As a coach and a father, it was a fantastic honour," he said.
Despite the success, Santavy must wait to see if he'll receive what's known as a reallocation to the Youth Olympics in China in August.
Because Canada did not send a team to the Pan American event, Santavy doesn’t receive an automatic invitation to China, instead having to wait for a bid from the International Weightlifting Federation.
That decision is expected by mid-June.
"He's done everything he needs to do and more," Dalas Santavy said of his oldest son. "He's the best (in his weight class) in the Western Hemisphere."
- Barry Wright