Paul Rutherford (born 14 February 1970) is a Scottish powerlifter. He was the 2010 World Unequipped Powerlifting Champion.[1]
Born in Glasgow, Scotland, he developed meningitis as an infant which severely affected his immune system and stunted his growth. As a result he was short and very underweight as a child. Rutherford began weight training after being bullied at school. In 1985, aged 15, and at a body weight of only 79 pounds (36 kg) he took up the sport of powerlifting.
He competed as junior lifter until 1989. The 5 ft 6in personal trainer won 11 championship titles from 1986 to 1990 but then retired.
In March 2007 he promised his nine-year-old son he would make an improbable comeback after watching the film Rocky Balboa, starring Sylvester Stallone, which was all about Rocky being older but making a ring comeback. In 2007 he achieved a silver medal at the European Powerlifting championships,[2] and then bronze at the 2009 World Championships. In 2010 he finally achieved his dream of becoming World Powerlifting Champion at the age of 41.