{"id":56623,"date":"2014-07-03T11:00:39","date_gmt":"2014-07-03T15:00:39","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=56623"},"modified":"2014-07-03T10:59:14","modified_gmt":"2014-07-03T14:59:14","slug":"71-year-old-powerlifter-brings-home-five-medals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/?p=56623","title":{"rendered":"71 Year-Old Powerlifter Brings Home Five Medals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"ray_fougnier<\/a>Ray Fougnier, 71 year-old Oneida Indian Nation Wolf Clan member, captured an overall silver medal and several other medals at the 2014 International Powerlifting Federation World Championships in South Africa earlier this month.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

(Verona, Oneida, NY – June 30, 2014) The Oneida Indian Nation applauds its 71 year-old Wolf Clan member Ray Fougnier for his stellar performance at the 2014 International Powerlifting Federation World Championships in South Africa earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Fougnier, whose travel was sponsored by the Oneida Nation, medaled in each of the three powerlifting events \u2013 squat, benchpress and deadlift, and earned the overall silver medal for his masters weight division.\u00a0 He also received, at the tournament, his U.S. national champion medal, the achievement which qualified him for the worldwide powerlifting championships.<\/p>\n

Along with fellow medal winners, Fougnier was honored during an awards ceremony similar to that of the Olympics where the victors had the medals placed around their necks and stood on a tiered podium as the national anthems from each country played. \u00a0Fougnier described the event as having an overwhelming sense of camaraderie, despite language barriers between competitors.<\/p>\n

After bringing home for the United States the overall silver medal, benchpress bronze medal, silver medal for the squat and the gold medal for the deadlift event, Fougnier says he felt pleased about the competition, but continues to strive to improve. \u00a0He will participate in the USA Powerlifting (USAPL) Raw National Championships in Denver, Colo. next month, where he hopes to once again qualify for the world championships to be held in June 2015 in Finland.<\/p>\n

Fougnier, a retired teacher who grew up on the Oneida Nation\u2019s homelands in Central New York and now lives in Tennessee, only joined the sport within the past year. \u00a0He views his success in competitive powerlifting as a unique opportunity to encourage exercise and healthy living in Native Americans, particular children, whose communities face many ongoing health issues.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was such an honor to represent the United States and the Oneida Nation at this prestigious international competition,\u201d said Fougnier. \u00a0\u201cHealth and fitness have always been a priority for me, but it is my hope that with this new national and international platform, I can serve as a positive role model who helps inspire Native peoples and children to embrace an active lifestyle.\u201d<\/p>\n

Oneida Indian Nation Representative Ray Halbritter said: \u201cI would like to applaud Ray Fougnier for his fantastic performance at the world powerlifting championships. \u00a0We continue to be inspired by his rugged determination, which mirrors the underlying values of the Nation. \u00a0We are proud of all that he has already achieved, and look forward to watching Ray\u2019s continued success.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Ray Fougnier, 71 year-old Oneida Indian Nation Wolf Clan member, captured an overall silver medal and several other medals at the 2014 International Powerlifting Federation World Championships in South Africa earlier this month.\u00a0 (Verona, Oneida, NY – June 30, 2014) The Oneida Indian Nation applauds its 71 year-old Wolf Clan member Ray Fougnier for his […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[94],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-56623","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56623","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=56623"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56623\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=56623"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=56623"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/madisoncountycourier.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=56623"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}