A Kinson teen who can lift 180kg has returned home from an international powerlifting competition with a collection of five gold medals.
Charlie Chester, 19, headed to her first Commonwealth Powerlifting Championships, which was held in Canada last month, just 18-months after first competing in the sport.
She went on to win the top prize in each of the five different events that she entered for the Junior 84kg category which saw her lift 167kg in the squat, 77.5kg for the bench press and 180kg in the deadlift. There was also an overall medal for the person who lifted the largest combined weight across the three events, as well as Charlie entering into a separate bench press event during the championships.
She said: “We had all the ages together, which I haven’t seen before, so there were 12 people lifting at the same time as me.
“It was my first Commonwealth as it is held every two years and it was very big as we competed in the Olympic Oval in Vancouver, which was used for the Winter Games.”
Charlie says that she works her full time job at Tesco and then heads to Bournemouth Barbell, a weights and powerlifting club, for three sessions a week lasting two to three hours.
She said that Paul Rees, who runs the club, encouraged her to try powerlifting after helping her with coaching and conditioning for volleyball. Since her first event in Kings Park in May 2014, Charlie has gone on to take part in the European and World Championships, with support at home from mum, Nikki, and her siblings Sophie, 25, Nick, 24, DJ, 11, and Harvey, seven.
“It’s been a really good year. Quite a few friends powerlift already and my brother and sister have tried it. My family are just very proud. I’ve still not got used to being an international athlete.”
Courtesy of: Daily Echo