17 Facts About Terry Todd

Terence 'Terry' Todd was an American powerlifter, and Olympic weightlifter.

Terry Todd was born in Beaumont, Texas, and moved to Austin, Texas while in elementary school.

Terry Todd was on the tennis team at Travis High School and began weight training after graduating to make his left arm as strong as his dominant tennis arm.

Terry Todd played on the varsity tennis team at the University of Texas at Austin in his freshman and sophomore years and then quit the team to pursue weightlifting.

Terry Todd majored in English as an undergraduate and completed his doctoral degree in the history and philosophy of education in 1966.

Terry Todd began as a weightlifter in 1956, and won the Junior Nationals in Olympic weightlifting in 1963.

Terry Todd then turned to powerlifting, and won the first two national championships in 1964 and in 1965 as a superheavyweight.

Terry Todd was directly involved in the development of the sport of women's powerlifting.

Terry Todd helped his wife Jan Todd organize the first national women's meet in 1977, and coached the women's Canadian team, with Jan, from 1976 to 1979.

In 1979, Terry Todd was elected to the Executive Committee of the United States Powerlifting Federation.

Terry Todd lobbied for, and ultimately achieved autonomy for the women's committee, but finally abandoned the USPF when he could not convince the organization to institute a steroid testing program for men and women lifters.

In 1977, Terry Todd published the first major book about powerlifting, called Inside Powerlifting.

Terry Todd covered the major national and international powerlifting events during the 1970s and 1980s for such magazines as Muscular Development and Iron Man.

Terry Todd taught at several universities in both the United States and Canada before finally returning to his alma mater, the University of Texas, in 1983.

In 2001, Terry Todd was asked by Arnold Schwarzenegger to create a Strongman contest for the annual Arnold Sports Festival, which is held in Columbus, Ohio.

Terry Todd died on July 7,2018, in Austin, Texas, at the age of 80.

Former Governor of California Schwarzenegger released a statement on Twitter: "[Terry Todd] was such a monster - a true force, but a kind heart and a great storyteller".