Over 30 years ago, John LaFlamme thought he’d reached his peak as a powerlifter and gave up the sport.

Now, after a little less than two years back in power lifting, the 64-year-old retired grandfather and Augusta native is setting American records and winning world championship medals as a masters powerlifter.

LaFlamme recently returned from the International Powerlifting Federation Classic World Championship in Salo, Finland with a bronze medal in the deadlift and a fifth place overall finish overall in his age group’s weight class.

LaFlamme is humble and humorous about being a world-class master powerlifter. The sport is growing throughout all age groups, but, like most sports, the ranks tend to thin out at the advanced ages.

“There aren’t many senior lifters,” LaFlamme said. “If there were as many senior power lifters as there are senior golfers, then I wouldn’t be talking to you right now.”

Still, he had to compete with lifters from all over North America, Europe and Asia in three events — deadlift, bench press and squat — and missed out on finishing third overall in the world by just 11 pounds. LaFlamme competes in the 182-pound weight class for ages 65-69 (age groups are based on birth year, not date).

“I’ll be 65 at the end of November, so I’m a young 65,” LaFlamme joked.

And he’s a very strong 64. Pound-for-pound — LaFlamme is 5-foot-9 and weighed-in at 180 1/2 pounds in Finland — he figures he can lift just as much as, or even in some events, a little more than he did when he was 30 pounds lighter in his late 20s and early 30s.

LaFlamme, who now lives in The Villages, a retirement community in central Florida, is a 1968 graduate of Cony High School, where he played football and golf. He earned a bachelor’s degree in French at the University of Maine and lived in Augusta with his wife Debbie and two children, a son and daughter, while working in telecommunications. He retired from Telcordia Technologies in 2001 and has lived in New Jersey and Florida since, making one or two trips back to Maine each year to visit family.

RAW LIFTING

In the mid-1970s, LaFlamme, who didn’t play any sports at UMaine, joined the Water Street Gym in Augusta to get in shape. In the basement gym he met some powerlifters and later got seriously involved in the sport when he joined Gilly’s Gym in Waterville.

“They had quite a few top-level lifters, so it was a pretty good environment to lift in,” he said.

He competed in powerlifting from 1978 to 1983, briefly reaching Class 1 status as a 148-pound lifter, two steps removed from the top Elite status.

Powerlifting was a lot different back then, he explained. Lifters weren’t split up as much into age divisions and weight classes. Competition was more open.

Technology also changed the sport, and LaFlamme became less comfortable and felt less safe with the so-called “super suits” competitors started wearing to help them lift heavier weights. He also started to flat-line on the weight he was lifting.

“Before I started up the second time, I was concerned about not making gains,” he said. “When I was younger, it got less interesting as I peaked.”

He regained interest a few years ago as he started researching how the sport has evolved over the last three decades and actually found that it was starting to bear a resemblance to the powerlifting he remembered.

“It’s gone back to raw lifting,” he said. “There’s a lot less hassle. It’s a lot less expensive and it really shows your raw strength rather than your equipped strength.

“It’s brought more people into the sport, and age groups have brought more interest, too.”

STILL MAKING GAINS

Training up to three days per week, he gradually started regaining his former strength. At last year’s USA Powerlifting Association championships, he scored high enough to be nominated for the U.S. Powerlifting Team at this year’s world championships. At the Florida State Open in March, he set Raw American records in the squat, dead lift and three-event total score.

Despite dealing with jet lag, he shattered those marks on June 14 in Finland, deadlifting 495 pounds to earn bronze and squatting 369 pounds, for sixth place. He also benched 214 pounds to finished with an overall score of 1,080 pounds, good for fifth place.

Competitors get three lifts per event. Typically, LaFlamme said, there are 9-to-15 minutes between lifts and an hour between events. Competitions such as the world championships can take all day, even with two flights of two dozen lifters going at a time. It can take a physical and mental toll.

“I like to go off and be away from all of the excitement and all that and try to relax and not get too stressed out,” he said. “It’s easy to get the adrenaline flowing when you are getting ready to lift. You don’t want to get too much adrenaline flowing between lifts or events, though.”

LaFlamme competes in three or four events per year, training in 12-to-14 week cycles between events, with weekly cycles lasting seven or eight days each. He will dead lift once in each cycle, bench twice and squat twice.

His next competition is Oct. 15 at the national championships in Scranton, Pa.

He hopes to continue competitive powerlifting into his 70s (USAPL has an over-80 age class). One of his concerns is that, like in his younger days, he will peak and lose his passion for the sport. But advancements in key areas of the sport have him optimistic that he’s going to keep lifting for a while.

“Nutrition and training are what makes the difference and allow people my age to still make some gains in lifting,” he said. “I talked to (63-year-old) Ron Delaney, the world champion in my class last year and this year. He’s been lifting for nine years and he’s still making gains every year. That was encouraging to hear.”

“I’d like to keep doing this until it’s no longer fun,” LaFlamme added.

Randy Whitehouse — 621-5638

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Twitter: @RAWmaterial33