With heavy hearts, we are sad to announce that legendary American weightlifting coach Glenn Pendlay has passed away at the age of 48.
Multiple athletes and coaches heavily vested in the weightlifting community have been sharing their condolences for Pendlay on social media, who reportedly passed on the morning of September 5th, 2019. Last month, news about his battle with cancer was made public on the Weightlifting House podcast when he shared that he had been officially diagnosed with Stage 4 Metastatic Cancer.
Pendlay was a USA Weightlifting Level 5 Coach — the highest accreditation a coach can receive — and could be described as a legend in the USA Weightlifting community. He began formally coaching weightlifting athletes in the mid-1990s, and coached multiple athletes at the international level.
“You literally gave the shirt off your back for anyone who needed it and always put the sport of weightlifting first.” – Tom Sroka on Pendlay’s passing.
Outside of influencing hundreds of athletes throughout his career, Pendlay also played a major role in the growth of Cal Strength, helped MuscleDriver USA develop a “Pendlay” product line to improve weightlifting strength equipment and bring more athletes to the sport, and even had a barbell row variation named after him. Needless to say, Pendlay’s legend will live on for years in the sport of weightlifting.
Strength coach and close friend of Pendlay’s, Tom Sroka, shared his condolences on his Instagram page writing,
Just got word of Coach Glenn Pendlay passing away early this morning. He lost his fight with cancer but left behind him a legacy not to be forgotten. Multiple times he was asked if he won the lottery what would he do, and his answer was always the same: Create a training center for American lifters so they can earn a stipend, train full time, and bring home some medals.
Well Coach you were able to do just that. No one has seen anything like what you created at MDUSA since the days of Bob Hoffman and York Barbell and a lot of lifters have you to thank for bringing the weightlifting to the forefront of the strength world.
Personally, I’ll never be able to repay you for taking a chance on me and bringing me into this sport all these years ago. I still am mad at you for ripping up check after check in my face when I tried to pay you rent for living with you. You literally gave the shirt off your back for anyone who needed it and always put the sport of weightlifting first. This one is going to sting for a while. Thank you Glenn for all you did for me and countless others throughout the years, now you can finally Rest In Peace Coach…
Phil Andrews, CEO of USA Weightlifting, also shared his condolences on his Instagram page:
“I am sad to share the loss of an impactful individual in our sport, this time Coach Glenn Pendlay. Rather than his headlining achievements of Team MDUSA and Cal Strength, Glenn might be best remembered for his willingness to share knowledge and how the sport.”
The team at BarBend worked with Pendlay on multiple articles, and we were consistently impressed by his knowledge and love of the sport. We send our condolences to his family and loved ones.
Feature image from @strength_coach_sroka Instagram page.