100-year-old WWII veteran holds weight lifting world record

BATON ROUGE, La. (WAFB) - At almost 100 years old, a World War II veteran is defying the odds and breaking world records.

Donald Dreyer is a record-breaking weight lifter. He started at age 80 and said he’s ready to break another record.

“I was lifting 120, 160 (pounds),” said Dreyer.

He may not look like anyone else you expect to see at the gym but he’s also not like anyone else you meet close to his age.

“I know most guys my age are, like you say, sitting around. I’m not sitting around unless there are girls there,” added Dreyer.

On November 26, Dreyer will turn 100 years old.

“I joined the weightlifting club just to work out and then I started working out, I got stronger and stronger, and then pretty soon, I set a world record,” explained Dreyer.

His wife, Louise, was shocked when he started his new hobby 20 years ago.

“Well, when he first came home from the gym and said, ‘I think I’m going to take up weightlifting,’ my mouth dropped,” she said. “I said, ‘Weightlifting?’ because he’d never mentioned it to me before and I said, ‘Well, okay,’ and he really liked it.”

His friends and family, who call him ‘Doc,’ said he’s always had an adventurous spirit.

“He went down the Guadalupe River in Texas when he was 18, I think. We’ve got an article on it and everything and he and one other boy in a homemade canoe,” said Louise Dreyer.

He isn’t shy about trying something new or meeting someone new.

“Well, I met Dr. Dreyer, I guess I was probably about 18 years old, so that was, I guess I’m going to age myself here, 20-plus years ago, and we just became fast friends,” said Lori Stoeckle. “We’re wine-drinking, dancing buddies.”

As Dreyer gets ready for his milestone birthday, his wish is to drink wine, dance with friends, and be able to go to a weightlifting meet again.

“I want to do it again. I want to do it when I’m a hundred and over a hundred,” said Dreyer.

In World War II, Dreyer was a radio operator on a B24 bomber.

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