An Ilkley Grammar School PE teacher is hoping to become the first British weightlifter to win an Olympic medal.
Sarah Davis set her sights on glory at next year’s Rio games after striking gold in the European Weightlifting Championships in Klaipeda, Lithuania.
The 23-year-old was up against stiff opposition in the under-23 63kg category but won the event with an impressive performance.
Davis recorded a combination of 88kg in the snatch lift and 113kg in the jerk.
She said: “Looking forward, I would love to be the first British female weightlifter to get an Olympic medal, as weightlifting only came into the Olympics in 2000 and unfortunately we get a lot of competition from the Eastern countries.
“I am really fortunate to have such a supportive school, staff and students, as I set my sights on Rio.”
Her journey to the European Championships began last summer when she qualified for the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in Weightlifting, qualifying after totalling 190kg with an 83kg snatch and 107kg clean and jerk in the English Weightlifting Championships.
She came seventh in the 63kg category, which was won by Nigeria’s Olauwatoyin Adesanmi with a combined total of 207kg.
Davies went on to compete in the English Weightlifting Championships in February and captured her first English title at the Castleford Phoenix Theatre.
The championships were the first major weightlifting competition of the year and Davies was excited to progress on her start to 2015.
As well as winning her gold medal Davies also won the title of best female weightlifter across the whole competition which now made her number one in England.
As well as competing on the international stage, Sarah continues to work at Ilkley Grammar School as a PE teacher and hopes to inspire a generation of students to achieve their best.
Courtesy of: Ilkley Gazette