Precious Mckenzie.

South Africa has a hero who remains unsung in his country of birth. Precious Mckenzie had to overcome numerous trials during his lifetime to become the sportsman who some herald as one of the all-time greats. Despite enduring incredible hardships, he is known by all who cross his path as an endearing person, for his humble dignity and lack of bitterness. The diminutive weightlifter continues to be an inspiring role-model, years after his retirement.

Precious Mckenzie was born in the Red Cross Hospital, Durban, in 1936. At the age of three he was hospitalised with complications due to fever, and his remaining chest condition was pronounced incurable. His mother Christina celebrated his survival by baptizing him Precious One. The same year another tragedy traumatized the McKenzie family when father and breadwinner Joseph was killed by a crocodile in the Limpopo river. As a result his mother started to drink heavily, soon having to give up her children for foster care. Precious and his sister then became victims of witch-like foster mothers and suffered such injuries and malnutrition as to stunt their physical growth - both grew no taller than 4ft10”. Of his mother Precious says:
“She was a woman who treated us so badly, she was the real devil…but my sister and I have forgiven her. No matter who it is, you have to forgive eventually.”

Precious’s athletic ability was first recognised at age 11 in Pofadder, at a Catholic mission where a Father Franklin encouraged and trained him in gymnastics. He returned to his mother in Pietermaritzburg at age 17 and worked in a local shoe factory, soon proving to be a stand-out employee and popular co-worker. But Precious’ ambition was to work in a circus. He laboured at this dream in Steve’s Gym, working out at 5:30 every morning, but the dream was thwarted when he had to hear from the travelling circus that his skin colour was wrong. Fortunately Kevin Stent,

trainer and coach at Steve’s Gym, encouraged him to try weightlifting and he took to the sport with a natural flair that rapidly brought him accolades – in 1958 he won the Natal Bantamweight weightlifting-title.
So thats how he is a very fomouse New Zealand bantamweight lifter.