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Heavy lifting’s all in a day’s work for chief
By SEAN BARRON
MCDONALD
Most police officers have stun guns, rubber bullets and other nonlethal means to subdue combative suspects and bring volatile situations under control.
Even with such tools, however, some potentially violent encounters between an officer and an unruly person can require something a lot more low-tech: the officer’s sheer physical strength.
That’s part of why village Police Chief Lou M. Ronghi participates each year in the annual Ohio Police and Fire Games competition. In June, he was one of several hundred safety-force members from throughout the state who competed in the 31st annual games in Toledo.
And it doesn’t hurt to take home some first- and second-place medals either.
The purpose of the weeklong games is to support the physical and mental fitness of the state’s active and retired police officers and firefighters through the development, organization and coordination of sporting events, its mission statement says.
Events include track and field, weightlifting, basketball, football and swimming, noted Ronghi, 47, who began competing in 1999 and has amassed 12 gold medals and four silver. Most recently, the nine-year police chief won two gold and one silver.
Other sports are trap shooting, archery, golf, billiards, darts, bowling, martial arts, fishing, a pistol competition, cycling and an obstacle course, according to www.theohiopoliceandfiregames.org.
This year’s two gold medals were for his finish in the overall power meet event, which is broken into bench press, squat and dead-lift competitions, and a push-pull lifting competition that combines bench and dead-lift. Ronghi earned one gold by lifting 1,160 pounds in the power meet (350, 400 and 410 pounds for the bench, squat and dead lift, respectively), and the other by lifting 760 pounds in the push-pull (the sum of the bench and dead-lift results).
The chief took home a silver in the bench competition, he said, adding that participants were allowed three lifts per event, from which the best scores were combined.
All three medals were in the age 45-to-49 category and the 198-pound weight class.
Kicking off this year’s games was a 5K run near Warren, he continued.
In 2006, Ronghi, who trains at a Niles gym, broke two state records by bench-pressing 325 pounds and completing a 3,200-meter run in 13 minutes, five seconds. The first record still stands, he pointed out, adding that both records were in the Senior Masters age 40 to 44 category and the 181-pound weight class.
Of course, physical ability play a big part in such competitions, but other factors such as mental toughness and a positive attitude are equally important, Ronghi contends.
Another reason the chief participates in the games is to promote physical fitness in his own department, which has 14 full- and part-time officers, he said.
“I believe it has to start at the top,” Ronghi noted, adding that he plans to compete in next year’s games in Fairborn, Ohio, near Dayton.