SLS 23RS-136 ORIGINAL
2023 Regular Session
SENATE RESOLUTION NO. 12
BY SENATOR BERNARD
COMMENDATIONS. Commends Walter Imahara on being inducted into the 2023 class
of the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
1 A RESOLUTION
2 To commend Walter Imahara on being inducted into the 2023 class of the Louisiana Sports
3 Hall of Fame.
4 WHEREAS, the Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame in Natchitoches, Louisiana, each year
5 collaborates with the Louisiana Sports Writers Association in selecting a limited number of
6 sports figures who embody the character, skill, and talent worthy of being named to the Hall
7 of Fame; and
8 WHEREAS, the 2023 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame Induction Class includes
9 Walter Imahara; and
10 WHEREAS, Walter Imahara is a six-time United States of America national
11 champion in the 60 kg (132-pound) weight class while competing in the press, snatch, and
12 clean and jerk; he is a member of the University of Louisiana at Lafayette Athletics Hall of
13 Fame and the Louisiana Weightlifting Hall of Fame; and
14 WHEREAS, Walter Imahara became the first Asian to attend the Southwestern
15 Louisiana Institute (SLI), now the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, in the mid-1950s
16 where he was nicknamed the "Asian-Cajun" by the school president, and graduated with a
17 degree in horticulture in 1960; and
18 WHEREAS, Walter Imahara joined the SLI weightlifting team and was an All-
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SLS 23RS-136 ORIGINAL
1 American when the program won the 1957 National Collegiate Athletic Association
2 (NCAA) team title, the first-ever for the school; and
3 WHEREAS, he was the NCAA Featherweight Champion in 1957, 1959, and 1960,
4 improving his total each time, lifting a total of 645 pounds in 1957, 695 pounds in 1959, and
5 725 pounds in 1960 when he was named an All-American, earned "Best Lifter" acclaim, and
6 won the 1960 Junior National crown; and
7 WHEREAS, a longtime Baton Rouge resident and businessman, Walter Imahara won
8 his first national professional weightlifting titles in 1962 and 1963 while serving the United
9 States Army and winning four consecutive titles from 1965 to 1968 representing the New
10 Orleans Athletic Club; and
11 WHEREAS, Walter Imahara won eight Senior National crowns, the 1967 Pan Am
12 Gold Medal, eight Southern Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) crowns, six Louisiana State
13 crowns, two Southern USA championships, and he was the National Masters Champion
14 from 1980 to 2005; and
15 WHEREAS, in 2000 and 2002, Walter Imahara was a recipient of the Grand Slam
16 Award given to athletes who have competed in and won all four major Masters events in one
17 year: National Masters Championships, Pan American Masters Championships, World
18 Masters Championships, and American Masters Championships; and
19 WHEREAS, prior to retiring from competition at the age of 68, Walter Imahara held
20 68 national records, 35 Pan American marks, 42 World Masters-Masters Games records, and
21 had been the chairman of the International Weightlifting Federation-Masters Program for
22 20 years.
23 THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the Senate of the Legislature of Louisiana
24 does hereby commend Walter Imahara on being inducted into the 2023 class of the
25 Louisiana Sports Hall of Fame.
26 BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this Resolution be transmitted to
27 Walter Imahara.
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SLS 23RS-136 ORIGINAL
The original instrument and the following digest, which constitutes no part
of the legislative instrument, were prepared by Kathy Liberty.
DIGEST
SR 12 Original 2023 Regular Session Bernard
Commends Walter Imahara on being inducted into the 2023 class of the Louisiana Sports
Hall of Fame.
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