Champion weightlifters descend on Coventry for annual British Championships - The Coventry Observer

Champion weightlifters descend on Coventry for annual British Championships

Coventry Editorial 18th Jul, 2017   0

WEIGHTLIFTING: DOZENS of Britain’s top weightlifters descended on Coventry at the weekend to take part in the British Weightlifting and Para-Powerlifting Championships 2017.

Hosted at the Ericsson Indoor Arena, the event took place over two days with men and women competitors all aiming for national glory.

And there wasn’t a shortage of record breaking lifts.

Day one started with Men’s 94kg, Women’s 53kg, and Women’s 58kg classes taking centre stage.




Commonwealth Games competitor Cyrille Fagat Tchachet set the mark but it was two-time British Champion Laura Hewitt that took the gold medal in the Women’s 58kg class.

Two records were broke during session two as Emily Godley triumphed in the 75kg class while 90kg+ athlete Emily Campbell finished her round with a clean 132kg lift.


Olympic and Commonwealth champion Zoe Smith took centre stage during session three in only her second appearance since suffering an injury last year.

She was up against Sarah Davies in the Women’s 63kg class.

With two good first lifts, Smith had a strong start – but Leeds-born Davies finished off with a 91kg lift, beating Smith’s 87kg.

The battle continued into the clean and jerk with just two kilos separating the girls by the last lift, but Davies took the British title along with a personal best with 119kg.

The Men’s 105kg and 105kg+ categories finished off the opening day of events as Owen Boxall took gold in the 105kg class.

Commonwealth bronze medalist Ben Watson finished third in the 105kg+ category as John Hanna won gold ahead of Georgi Georgiev.

Day Two

The second day of lifting saw the British Para Powerlifting Championships get underway.

Nathaniel Wilding took gold in the Men’s 72kg class with a lift of 172kg on the bench press.

On the women’s side, Rio 2016 bronze medallist Zoe Newson retained her British title for the Women’s 62kg category with a 96kg lift on her second attempt.

Five-time Paralympian Natalie Blake bagged second place and 16-year-old Olivia Broome took home the bronze after three successful lifts at 72kg.

Alfie Wright was crowned British Champion for the Women’s 62kg+ class with a best lift of 67kg.

The final group for the Para Powerlifting Championships was the Men’s over 72kg class.

The closing group for the powerlifting saw Invictus Games gold medallist Micky Yule become British Champion with a final lift and personal best of 195kg.

The silver medal went to Ross Austen and bronze was awarded to Brett Leahy.

Guy Michel Thuissi won the gold for the Men’s 85kg class with a 306kg total, 6kg clear of second place.

In the Women’s 48kg class, Jo Calvino became the British Champion for the 21st time with a total of 139kg, beating Kelly-Jo Robson to the gold by just 1kg.

Lastly London 2012 athlete Jack Oliver took gold in the Men’s 77kg class with a huge lift of 284kg.

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