Peter Fiore will be well known to most people who lived in Chingola in the early 70s. He was an instrumentation technician on the mine and we got to know each other during his regular visits to check flowmeters, density gauges and other essential instruments on the concentrator. He was also the Zambian light-heavyweight power-lifting champion. Only 1.63m tall, he was built like an ox and was immensely strong.
In 1972 I was blossoming as a squash player, and Peter took me under his wing and essentially became my personal trainer and close friend. He also introduced me to the Nchanga Fire Brigade. He was Deputy Fire Chief and for two wonderful years I had a great experience as a fireman in the auxiliary service.
In 1978 he became world powerlifting champion in the middleweight class, and later became President of the Commonwealth Powerlifting Federation. He was still competing at a high level in his 70s. I last heard from him 16 months ago when he told me that he had won the Master 4 World Championships in the 83kg class in Texas in the previous October. He was the only man to have won an "Open" World Championships and a "Master World Championship. He had been a Personal Fitness Trainer for many years and was an Australian Powerlifting Coach.
So I was saddened and shocked today to hear of his sudden death last month at the age of 74. He truly is an Nchanga legend and our thoughts are with his family.
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| Peter Fiore (left) with Nchanga metallurgists Doug Edmunds, Vic Bryant and me, 1971 |
In 1978 he became world powerlifting champion in the middleweight class, and later became President of the Commonwealth Powerlifting Federation. He was still competing at a high level in his 70s. I last heard from him 16 months ago when he told me that he had won the Master 4 World Championships in the 83kg class in Texas in the previous October. He was the only man to have won an "Open" World Championships and a "Master World Championship. He had been a Personal Fitness Trainer for many years and was an Australian Powerlifting Coach.
So I was saddened and shocked today to hear of his sudden death last month at the age of 74. He truly is an Nchanga legend and our thoughts are with his family.
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I read a highly, and obviously deservingly, sensational article about a representative of the nation of Zambia, named Peter Fiore, around 1974/5. Since then, I have wanted to gather more information on Peter, so I can place him in the right place in Zambian sports history. So sad he's gone. Any one with more information on Peter Fiore's exploits competing for Zambia, kindly mail me at rupertcee@yahoo.com. I was 13 in 1974. I have a ,business blog, rupertchimfwembe.blogspot.com.
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