The Mirror met the sporting legend Precious McKenzie at the Commonwealth Games.
I have to say, he gave me a bit of a lift.
He stands just 4ft 9in tall, turned 86 in June, weighs 8st 7lb and remains a weightlifting world record holder.
I’m 6ft 1in tall, 13st 3lb, and came third in the Gateshead Schools 1976 100 yard sprint (under 11s).
The pint-sized legend insisted on lifting me not once, but twice, in a new Commonwealth Games record for airborne Geordies.
He once carried boxing superstar Muhammad Ali, so I was following the path of the Greatest.
To be transported on the shoulders of a humble hero was unforgettable.
But Precious has been taking sports fans to new heights all his life.
Now a grandfather-of-seven, he has won more Commonwealth and world medals in his sport than any other person, competing in both the bantam and flyweight divisions.
He has one of the longest-held world records, possibly the longest-held, at 43 years. His 1,339lb (607kg) total lift in the 123lb class (56kg), attained in 1979, may never be beaten.
Precious was a fitting guest of honour at Birmingham 2022 for more than his undoubted sporting prowess.
A black South African, he was asked to compete for them in 1964 – if he stayed segregated from his white teammates.
He refused.
It was their loss; he went on to win three Commonwealth golds for England, the first in Kingston, Jamaica, in 1966.
He became a shining light of the anti-apartheid movement, yet described his honour here as the “biggest day” of his life.
As tough as boots, he was moved to tears by the tributes from schoolchildren on the weightlifting stage he graced for so long.
They were inspired by his life story, which comes straight out of a Hollywood movie.
Given the name Precious after surviving serious surgery soon after his birth, his father was killed whilst crocodile hunting when he was bitten by one of his prey and bled to death.
McKenzie was still a toddler and was brought up by his alcoholic mother before suffering cruelty in a harsh care system.
“I don’t know my father’s name,” he told me. “It was often said that he died wrestling a crocodile. But he was bitten and bled to death.
“They did not know how to stop the blood flow back then. I was aged two or three, I never knew him.”
We met after he had been given an ovation by the packed auditorium inside the NEC, as England’s Emily Campbell won gold with a new Commonwealth record lift.
Emily and Precious featured in a theatre production based on their two remarkable life stories in the run-up to the Games.
Precious was cheered by a packed audience, more than 50 years after his first Commonwealth gold medal.
Emily described him as a legend and told how he had spurred her to sporting glory. She responded not just with a gold medal, but a new Commonwealth record.
They met for the play Precious Emily, written for primary schools.
“He is such a character,” she said. “They always joke that weightlifters have to be a little bit different, or have a screw loose.
“Precious is still doing it, one of the most beautiful people in our sport. He is a true legend, inspiring people all around the world.”
An ambition to become a circus acrobat was denied to Precious by apartheid.
He could take no more after he was overlooked for the 1958 British Empire Games in Cardiff in favour of a white rival he had previously defeated.
Determined to make his mark, he moved to England in 1963 and took a job working in a shoe factory.
His application for British citizenship was personally approved by the UK Minister for Sport to allow him to compete in the 1966 Commonwealth Games.
Quick-witted and good-humoured, he became a darling of the press and took the first of his four successive Commonwealth gold medals in Kingston, Jamaica.
“Before I left for New Zealand, the journalists took me for a big dinner on Fleet Street to wish me all the best,” he recalls. “I will never forget their kindness.”
The Queen and Duke of Edinburgh were late for an engagement at the 1974 Commonwealth Games in Christchurch because she wanted to watch Precious win his third consecutive weightlifting gold. She also awarded him his MBE.
He won gold at the European Communities Championship the following year, and at 42, carried off his 4th consecutive gold for New Zealand in the 1978 Commonwealth Games after making a new life in Auckland.
He has three children, Sandra, Vanessa and Quinton by his wife of 60 years, Elizabeth. Five times world powerlifting champion, he worked as a consultant on back injury prevention, and often visited Birmingham, including the Cadbury factory.
In 2006, more than 40 years after he left his native country, Precious was inducted into the South African Sports Hall of Fame.
He still trains six days a week, giving keep-fit lessons to pensioners in their 80s and 90s.
Precious will never forget his welcome in Birmingham because it reminds him of his escape from apartheid all those years ago.
His love for his adopted country is a precious thing, even now.
“They took me with open arms, not because of my colour, my religion, they took me on for what I was,” he says.
“And that’s why I was so proud of England.”
