Fort Carson – Relaxing on his back in the corner of the gym Sunday with his dirty, black Rocky Mountain Lifting Club cap over his face, Gip Duggan eagerly awaits his turn. For now, he blocks out all the clanking of weights, clamps and applause.
The only thing he hears is the greatest hits of Fleetwood Mac, serenading him through his headphones.
He downs three Starbucks Doubleshots, buckles his weight belt, puts his wraps around his wrists and chalks up. Then he heads to the platform.
Duggan competed in the 2005 State Games of America for powerlifting at the Garcia Physical Fitness Center at Fort Carson and won the gold in the Masters VI (age 60-64) super heavyweight class.
Though winning the gold is exciting, Duggan, 61, is thinking long-term.
He’s thinking comeback after surgery four months ago on his left shoulder to fix his torn rotator cuff.
“I’m back. I feel good. I could’ve gotten 375 (pounds) no problem,” said Duggan, who won with a 341-pound lift. “This weekend was for me to get platform time, get back in sync.
“Now I’m waiting for the world championships; that’s where I’m going to break the world record.”
The record is 458 pounds, and the bench presser will get his shot in April 2006 in Miami.
The 279-pound bastion from Silverthorne is no stranger to returning from an injury.
Seven years ago, Duggan’s life was in limbo. Before the 1998 USA Nationals, doctors discovered he had an irregular heartbeat. He had four clogged arteries – three 80 percent clogged and the other 70 percent.
When Duggan was told he needed open-heart surgery, he was determined not to let it end his career or his life.
“I told myself that this is going to be a long road back, and I’m going to do it,” he said.
It was hard for his wife, Carlina, to see Duggan lying in the ICU with tubes coming out of his body. The man who pitched more than 1,000 bales of hay in 100-plus-degree heat of Oklahoma when he was growing up and the NFL player for four years was suddenly sidelined.
When he was strong enough, doctors told Duggan to walk a lap in the hospital. He did four. That’s how stubborn Duggan is, but he has the will of an ox.
“He came back and was outside using the snowblower,” Carlina said. “We had a pretty big fight. The doctor said no work, and when I saw him working I was like, ‘What are you doing?”‘
However, his breast plate opened up months later, and Duggan needed another surgery. He was out for a year and a half. He returned in 1999 and began training two hours a day with Dan Gaudreau, owner of Rocky Mountain Lifting Club. Duggan started with just the 45-pound bar, and at his apex he was lifting in the upper 400s.
In 2002 and 2003 he earned a spot on Team USA and competed in the Masters Bench Press World Championship, where he earned a silver medal (Killeen, Texas) and a fourth-place finish (Nymburk, Czech Republic), respectively.
Now he is set on the world record as his shoulder gets back into shape.
“It’s going to be a no-brainer for Gip to set the record,” said Duggan’s coach, Chris Hughes. “Our goal is 500 pounds. We want the record to stand for several years.”
Duggan’s next meet is the Colorado State Championships (Nov. 11-12), where he hopes to eclipse the 400-pound mark to ready himself for the world championships.
“He puts his nose to the grindstone, and the results are coming in for him,” Gaudreau said. “He’s already made some big strides.”
Staff writer Bryan Chu can be reached at 303-820-1979 or bchu@denverpost.com.
