Meet Bobby Body, the US veteran going for gold in Paris

With a name like Bobby Body, weightlifting was destined to be in his future. But he has carried plenty of weight from his service and injury in the Marine Corps before joining the National Guard and serving in Iraq. 

Body has not had an easy road to Paris representing Team USA in the Paralympic Games. Abandoned by his mother when he was five, he and his sister were raised in an orphanage after their father went to prison when Body was 10. He was also briefly homeless but got himself off the streets after the owner of a hotel offered a room in exchange for work. 

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Body enlisted in the U.S. Army. While deployed in Iraq, Body was in a Humvee that was hit by a roadside bomb. He underwent countless surgeries to save his left leg, but ultimately in September 2013, surgeons had to amputate the leg above his knee. 

Frustrated that he was no longer able to run and jump, Body discovered powerlifting in early 2014 — “to let out some of that aggression,” he said. He immediately showed potential and began competing in able-bodied competitions, soon bench pressing over 386 pounds (at a body weight of 181 pounds). 

In order to get into the proper position on the bench at each competition, Body would remove his prosthetic and set it on the floor beside him. “I enjoyed winning against people who had two legs, with no disabilities,” he said with a grin. “At the end of competitions, people are like, ‘I can’t believe this guy has one leg.’”