64-year-old Clifford MacDuff, or ‘Mac’, won the medal at the world championship which was held in Cape Town, South Africa between Friday, October 10, and Sunday, October 19, after initially starting his powerlifting career in 2023.
Competing in the ‘M3’ class, for powerlifters over the age of 60 and -93kg category, Mac secured his overall silver medal with a 212kg squat, 135kg bench press, and 237kg deadlift.
Mac was pipped to the gold medal by 65-year-old David Ricks from the US Virgin Islands, who is considered by many to be one of the greatest powerlifters of all time.
The 32-time national champion, 11-time IPF World Champion, and IPF hall of famer, won gold ahead of Carlisle-born Mac with a 240kg squat, 190kg bench press, and 225kg deadlift.
“It was unreal, I was competing with some of the best in the world which is just ridiculous, ” Mac said.
“The guy who won, David Ricks, is classed as the GOAT or the greatest ever in the 93 class and I am standing on the podium next to him in second place and that is unreal.
“I am not quite sure what this all means to me, it almost seems like I am watching somebody else doing, like as if it is not me who is doing it because how can I be second in the world when I only started doing this two years ago – it seems ludicrous.”
Mac’s silver medal was the latest achievement in his powerlifting which began in 2023 and has also seen him win a gold medal at the British Masters Classic Championship which was held at the Surry Sports Park in Guildford in June.
Speaking to the News & Star previously, Mac explained how his powerlifting career began.
He said: “I’m still quite new to this, I have only being powerlifting for about 18 months and I ended up getting into into almost by mistake, it was something that I never intended to do.
“I went to my local gym and when I got into my sixties I was getting these emails about over 50s and over 60s competitions and I wasn’t interested but in the end I thought I would give it a go.
“I ended up going to my Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club, which is the oldest powerlifting gym in England, and I met Martin Bass, who I didn’t know at the time was the head coach of Powerlifting GB and it all went from there.”
Mac now his sights set on the European Championships which will take place in Finland in February 2026.
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