Weightlifting coach is 2016 Olympic hopeful

WARWICK — Cross Fit's Warwick Weight lifting Club Coach Donny Shankle is a five-time national champion and a 2016 Olympic Hopeful.
He is also the Warwick Weight lifting Club coach at CrossFit, a strength and conditioning firm located in the rear of the Mechanical Rubber building at 77 Forester Ave.
Shankle, who was born and raised in Louisiana and recently moved from South Carolina to Warwick, is a world team member in the sport of weight lifting.
He is the only weight lifter in the United States to defeat a defending world champion in competition in more than 30 years.
At the 2007 annual Arnold Classic, Shankle was named America's most inspirational weight lifter.
And he is the only American weight lifter to have trained both as a resident athlete at the United States regional Olympic training complex and under the tutelage of world famous weightlifting teacher, Ivan Abadjiev.
Shankle is also a Marine Corps veteran of the Iraq war and is currently in pursuit of the 2016 Rio Olympics as he teaches his philosophy on weight lifting.
He is currently a part-time trainer certified through the National Academy of Sports Medicine and a consultant for the sport of weightlifting. His clients include amateur and professional athletes, strength and conditioning coaches and sports teams across the world.
"I teach what I learned for competition," said Shankle, "and I hope to take some here to the American Open."
CrossFit Warwick is an affiliate of CrossFit Inc., which certifies CrossFit trainers and licenses the CrossFit name to gyms.
All information, including introductory rates and class schedules, can be found online at www.crossfitwarwick.com.