Gabe Festing is the CPU’s Vice President of Sport Development, a role he was elected for at the 2020 CPU Annual General Meeting. His responsibilities include working with a variety of groups both within and outside the CPU to help further the development of our sport. He also helps with strategic planning and ensures that CPU committees have the resources and assistance they need to get their jobs done.

Gabe has been powerlifting since 1995. His first competition was British Columbia Powerlifting Association’s Delta High School Powerlifting Championship. He had only learned how to squat and deadlift two weeks prior to that competition! Despite his decades of experience competing, Gabe’s most proud of contributing as a board member of the BCPA for over ten years, helping to foster the sport’s incredible growth in the province and working with amazing people along the way.

It’s for similar reasons that Gabe really enjoys his work with the CPU - specifically, the bonds that the CPU community creates. “I’ve met some of the greatest and most dedicated people through my involvement with the CPU,” he says. The CPU truly allows athletes of all kinds to come together in a unified manner. “It allows old friends to reunite annually and gives the opportunity for athletes to form new friendships throughout Canada,” he says.

Gabe also works with the Special Olympics, which has been incredibly fulfilling, as both the coaches and athletes are deeply committed to their training. Outside of his work in the sport, Gabe is a member of Local 502 International Longshore & Warehouse Union in BC.