British Weight Lifting Championships 2022

Following a fantastic summer of sport for weightlifting and para powerlifting, hundreds of people turned out to enjoy the annual British Weight Lifting Championships at its new home, Derby Arena.

The Championships acted as a key qualifying competition for Home Nation weightlifters wanting to compete at the Commonwealth Games in July 2022, taking place on home soil in Birmingham. The Championships were also used as a qualification opportunity for the Malta weightlifting team.

There were some fantastic displays of strength and power on the British Senior Championships platform. Noorin Gulam won in the women’s 49kg bodyweight and lifted a 88kg clean and jerk to break the current British record.

Welsh lifter Catrin Jones won the women’s 55kg category with a total of 187kg. In the women’s 59kg category, British record holder and U23 European Champion, Fraer Morrow won gold, closely followed by Jess Gordon Brown with a total of 198kg to secure silver.

In the men’s 61kg category, Benjamin Hickling won, with a total of 218kg. In the men’s 67kg category Rooni Siraj came first with 257kg, closely followed by Chris Freebury who totalled 254kg.

In the women’s 64kg category Jenny Tong, BWL Regional Pathway Coach and Non-Executive Director won her first British title lifting an 84kg snatch and 103kg clean and jerk.

In the men’s 73kg category Jack Oliver secured first place and two new records by lifting a 136kg snatch as a 73kg lifter, breaking the previous record by 3kg and also a British record for the total with a 9kg improvement at 295kg.

In the women’s 71kg category Erin Barton won gold with a total of 206kg. World, European and Commonwealth silver medallist Sarah Davies secured a British Championship gold with a total of 216kg in the women’s 76kg category.

In the 81kg category four time British record holder Chris Murray secured gold with a total of 305kg, closely following by Guy Ngongang Tchuissi with a total of 302kg to secure silver.

Isabella Brown won gold in the women’s 81kg category with a 183kg total. Sarah Wiltshire won gold with a 203kg total in the women’s 87kg category, with Emily Sweeny a close second with 202kg.

Craig Richey who has been documenting his entry into the sport won his first British Championship title with a 135kg snatch and 156kg clean and jerk in the men’s 89kg category.

In the women’s 87+kg category Mercy Brown secured gold with an impressive 237kg total.

Cyrille Tchatchet II broke a British record in the 96kg category with his 156kg snatch as well as securing a British Championship gold.

In the 102kg category Benedict Millson took first place with 301kg, with David Harding-prior in second place with a total of 300kg.

Jordan Sakkas took gold for Wales in the men’s 109kg category with a total of 334kg, with Commonwealth medallist Owen Boxall following closely behind with a total of 333kg for silver.

Gordon Shaw secured first place in the Men’s 109+kg and broke British records across the board. Shaw hit a 162kg snatch, then hit a 189kg clean and jerk right after Mackenzie Middleton broke his own previous British record with a 188kg lift. In the total, Middleton broke his previous British record of 337kg, managing to add 6 kilos to total a new record of 343kg, and shortly after Shaw broke this new record totalling a huge 351kg.

Day two of the British Championships saw the Para Powerlifters battle it out for Championship titles.

In the women’s British Para Powerlifting Championships Olympic bronze medallist Olivia Broome took first place with a 105kg bench press. Rebecca Bedford achieved another British record and a personal best of 91kg, taking the silver medal. Kim Dean took bronze with a bench press of 84kg.

Oliver Liddle from North Tyneside Barbells took gold in the men’s British Para Powerlifting championships with a bench press of 116kg.

A huge congratulations to everyone who competed on the British Masters Championships platform over the course of the two days. There were lots of lifters competing across a wide variety of age categories with the oldest lifting in the 80+ category. There were some fantastic performances across the board and the competition provided a great opportunity for members to get back on the platform.

Ashley Metcalfe, CEO of British Weight Lifting commented “As a Commonwealth qualifier, the British Championships was an important event and following a fantastic year for the sport, a true celebration. We were delighted to see so many lifters on the two platforms as well as a record number of spectators turning out to cheer on lifters. Derby arena provided a great venue for our return to the British Championships. I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank our partners for supporting the event”.

“As more success is achieved on the platform, and the sport becomes more widely known, British Weight Lifting hopes to connect strength beyond the traditional boundaries, appealing to a more diverse and inclusive audience resulting in greater levels of activity and a fitter, healthier and stronger nation”.