PHILIP Mario Caira, from Kirkcaldy, was a prodigious weight-lifter, British record holder, and double commonwealth champion.
He was born into an Italian family in London, in 1933, but they were bombed out during the blitz, and moved to Fife when Phil was seven, He became a Scot and a national sporting hero, representing his country in five successive Commonwealth Games, from 1954 to 1970, winning gold in Cardiff (1958) and Perth in 1962. He carried the flag at the opening ceremony in Kingston four years later, and looked to have won a third gold, but one red light along with the two whites saw his winning lift invalidated, and he was relegated to fourth.
Caira, who ran a newsagents, was Britain's youngest senior champion at 17. He finished fifth in the 1956 Melbourne Olympics, the best placing ever by a Scottish lifter.
As a teenager he enjoyed gymnastics, swimming, and wrestling, and it was a local instructor, Johnny Dick, who spotted his potential. He took him to the gym of lifting guru Al Murray, where, just after his fifteenth birthday, Phil pressed 193lbs, curled 130lbs, and bench-pressed 230lbs. He was Scottish junior 12-stone champion at 15, won a Mr Britain under-16 physique title, and set Scottish and British records while in his teens. Notably he was the only known under-17 in the British Empire to hoist 300lbs overhead.
He became Britain's youngest champion in the 13-stone class at 17, when he also broke the Scottish dumbell press record with 210lbs.
Following national service he was selected for the commonwealth Games in Vancouver, where, despite having torn a muscle, he finished equal fourth. He fought British selectors who at times seemed reluctant to acknowledge him, but in 1955 he set a UK record of 832lbs at the world championships in Munich. The following year he became the first lifter at the British championships to press more than 100lbs over his bodyweight, securing his place in the Melbourne Olympics Games, where he was fifth.
He was feted at the Moscow Youth Games of 1957 when he took silver, and at one competition in 1958 achieved an unprecedented triple of British records. Originally competing at light heavy, it transpired that he was over the class limit, but he had still broken the British mid-heavy record.
In Cardiff, Phil became Scotland's first gold medallist, but having been chosen for the Rome Olympics he injured a knee and announced his retirement. His wife persuaded him to return, and he came back to claim a second Commonwealth title in 1962. His farewell appearance was in Leith Town Hall, at the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
He died peacefully at home on Monday. He is survived by his wife, Norina, sons Anthony and Paul, and daughter Laura.
Phil Caira, weight-lifter, born 1933, died September 15, 2003
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