CARLTON FLETCHER: Ailing world champion Judd Biasiotto continues to help others

Don’t give up, ‘cause you have friends. Don’t give up, you’re not beaten yet. … Don’t give up, please, don’t give up.

— Peter Gabriel/Kate Bush

We in these parts point with pride to our local treasures: the Flint River, Radium Springs, our colleges — Albany State University, Darton State College, Albany Technical College — the blue holes embedded in the Kinchafoonee Creek, the sand dunes, and the men and women whose accomplishments fill up pages of history books.

One of those local treasures, though, has lived a remarkable life that’s gone all but unsung.

Oh, Judd Biasiotto has had more acclaim than all but a few who’ve claimed Albany as home, the natural-born citizens and interlopers who came and stayed alike. He did, after all, establish 101 state, 47 regional, 23 American and 14 world powerlifting records. And he has written 94 books, some of which were bestsellers in Europe, in countries where those who excel in his sport are gods and goddesses.

Heck, during his heyday, there were streets in foreign lands that Biasiotto couldn’t walk without drawing an adoring mob anxious for an up-close experience, an opportunity to absorb the aura of the superman whose always smallish body belied a strength that, pound for pound, was unmatched even by the giants of the powerlifting world.

In Albany, the place that he’s called home for 40 years, rarely has Biasiotto been given much more than a second glance. Unlike champion athletes whose feats typically reserve a hallowed place in a society that celebrates its heroes even in retirement, only a relative handful realize the magnitude of his career. Sure, time has moved inexorably on, its passage the one thing even gods can’t defeat. But it’s not time that’s diminished this world champion’s place in history.

It’s indifference.

Because Biasiotto’s mind-boggling triumphs — squatting 603 pounds at a body weight of 130 pounds! — weren’t accomplished on a football field, a basketball court or a baseball diamond, they’ve warranted barely a notice. And because his literary works — some that are hailed as the defining texts of their genre — were more famous in other countries, the institution of higher learning where Biasiotto passed on his knowledge, Albany State, has all but ignored his accomplishments rather than trumpeting them.

The thing about Biasotto, though, is that even his world championship lifts pale in comparison to the immensity of his heart. From his desire to help a quadriplegic student at ASU by raising $139,000 for a van that would allow the student to drive to and from work grew Dr. Judd’s Love Foundation, an organization that raises funds — no strings attached — for deserving recipients.

The Love Foundation raised the money for Kenny Blanchard’s handicap-accessible van, and the emotional presentation of that van to Blanchard felt so good Biasiotto and his associates did it again. And again. And again.

To the tune of $1.7 million.

Biasiotto will participate in his final Love Foundation benefit Friday night. He’s passed the baton on to the New Jersey Kettle Bell Foundation, no longer able physically to carry on his fight for those unable to fight for themselves.

Biasiotto has a rare form of Muscular Dystrophy called Duchenne, a genetic disorder that typically impacts young boys. He’s already outlived a grim diagnosis, and his every hour is filled with a pain that medicine can’t soothe. Even so, Biasiotto is more concerned about the well-being of others than he is his own agony. That’s why he’ll give the keynote address at Friday’s fundraiser for Adela Castaneda, a mother of four whose family is struggling after she underwent lifesaving surgery.

Those who knew Judd Biasiotto in his prime marveled at the otherworldly strength and unbending will of this man who defied all accepted understanding of limitation. Those who know him today are awed by a heart that keeps beating and a diminished body that keeps moving so that he can help one more person.

There are all kinds of groups locally that honor our champions — our human treasures — for their accomplishments and contributions to our way of life. None of the honorees, though, are any more deserving that Judd Biasiotto. It would be nice to see him acknowledged by some of these groups before that marvelous will to keep moving forward — to keep helping others — finally burns itself out.

Email Carlton Fletcher at [email protected].