ALBANY SPORTS HALL OF FAME: Weightlifting helped Ben Lockett perform his job

Editor’s note: This is the first of a three-part series on the Albany Sports Hall of Fame’s Class of 2015 inductions. The Hall will induct its three newest members Monday night at the Hilton Garden Inn. Today, the Herald features Ben Lockett, Jr.

ALBANY — When he was in the fourth-grade, he was diagnosed with polio and told he wouldn’t walk normally.

Some 60-plus years later, that same boy — Ben Lockett, Jr. — will be inducted into the Albany Sports Hall of Fame as an Olympic-style and power weightlifter.

Lockett will be one of three inductees as a member of the Class of 2015. The induction ceremony is Monday night at 6:30 p.m. at the Hilton Garden Inn.

“It is absolutely wonderful,” Lockett said. “I was inducted into the Albany Weightlifting Hall of Fame about three to four months ago. We set up the organization and ended up with 31 local people who were competitive weightlifters and who had been living in the Albany area for the last 30 years.”

Lockett has competed in Olympic-style weightlifting and powerlifting over a 46-year period, setting numerous national and world records.

As a child, Lockett said he had a fascination for picking things up.

“I just loved it,” he said. “I started weightlifting when I was in junior high school. Then I started competing when I was in high school.”

Lockett idolized former weightlifter and Olympic gold medalist Paul Anderson.

“Paul Anderson was a phenomenal weightlifter. He was absolutely unbelievable. I met him several times,” Lockett said. “There are several lifts that he made that they still haven’t beat.”

Since Lockett began competing in high school as an Olympic-style weightlifter, he excelled, winning back-to-back Louisiana state championships (1960 and 1961) and setting numerous high school and teenage records.

As a freshman at the University of Texas, Lockett set a Junior Olympic record by lifting 275 pounds in the overhead press, a world record at the time.

Lockett also won the national collegiate championship in the 181-pound class by lifting 250 pounds in the set press and 310 pounds in the power clean and jerk. While he could have contended for the Olympics, there was one problem that prevented Lockett from having that chance.

“I flunked out of school and went into the Navy,” Lockett said.

While in the Navy, Lockett continued weightlifting and setting records. He won numerous regional championships and won the Armed Forces championships in 1963 and ‘65.

Lockett won 81 meets and two national titles during his Olympic career, setting one world record. In 1977, Lockett switched from Olympic-style weightlifting to powerlifting due to injuries.

He moved from Washington, D.C. to Albany where he resides today and works as a private investigator.

As a powerlifter, Lockett was just as successful. From 1977 to 2006, he won 84 powerlifting competitions, including seven national championships and one world championship.

His last competition in Macon in 2006 when, at age 64, he set a world bench press record in the masters’ division at 363 pounds.

Lockett was a member of the Secret Service. In 1989, he received the Secretary’s Certificate Award from the Department of the Treasury for his bravery and professionalism while protecting former President Jimmy Carter and former First Lady Rosalyn Carter, along with other American delegates, in Panama during that country’s elections.

Lockett believes weightlifting helped him perform his job.

“In law enforcement, sometimes you get hurt,” Lockett said. “Weightlifting helped me come back. It makes you very competitive.”

Lockett’s accomplishments were thought to be impossible due to a doctor’s diagnosis of polio when he was a child.

“They said I would never be able to walk normally,” he said. “I’m not sure what happened, but it made me try harder.”

Lockett has also suffered two broken necks and has had to have two hip replacements.

He is still very active in the community. He helped found the Kiwanis Clubs of Lee and Dougherty Counties, and currently serves on the boards of organizations such as the Alzheimer Outreach Center for Albany and Whiz Kids.

He doesn’t want his weightlifting career to define who he is.

“I want to be known as a leader and a person who can motivate and encourage young people,” Lockett said. “I want to help keep them out of drugs, help get them on the right track and help them prioritize their lives.”