World Cup Day 1: Medals for Newson, Alderman and Broome

Gold for Zoe Newson (up to 41 kg), silver for Adam Alderman (up to 49 kg) and bronze for Olivia Broome (up to 50 kg) got Great Britain off to a fantastic start on the opening day of the Manchester 2020 Road to Tokyo World Para Powerlifting World Cup at Wythenshawe Forum.

Newson, the double Paralympic bronze medallist and reigning European champion, took gold in the first session of the event, lifting 88 kg on her third lift to secure first place. Two unsuccessful attempts at the same weight gave the partisan crowd a nervous wait but Newson – who became a mum in January 2019 and is attempting to compete at her third Paralympics – completed a good lift at the final attempt.

Alderman also kept the home crowd on the edge of their seats, lifting 140 kg on his third attempt after two ‘no lifts’, to secure himself a silver medal. The European bronze medallist was beaten by Azerbaijan’s Parvin Mammadov’s first-round lift of 146 kg.  Tetsuo Nishizaki (Japan) lifted 133 kg on his third attempt, which was enough to secure the first medal of the competition for the 2020 Games hosts.

“I thought I’d get the suspense going for the crowd,” said Alderman afterwards.

 “It’s high level - I was hoping to give you 140 (kg) then try and get close to breaking into the top eight (in the world rankings), but unfortunately today wasn’t the day for that. I came away with a silver and I’m happy with that.

“(There’s pressure) especially when you miss your first, then you miss your second, when you’ve got family and friends coming over to support you and you’ve got people watching on the internet.”

Olivia Broome took bronze in the up to 50 kg category, the 18-year-old lifting 94 kg on a successful second lift that also saw her collect gold in the junior category. Rio 2016 Paralympic champion Lidiia Soloviova (Ukraine) won gold with Spain’s Loida Zabala Ollero taking the silver medal.

Speaking afterwards, a delighted Broome said:

“It’s fantastic to be able to compete in front of a home crowd for the first time, it holds something special. I’m incredibly happy.”

Elsewhere, there were no surprises in the women’s up to 55 kg category as world record holder and 2019 world champion Mariana Shevchuk (Ukraine) was victorious with a lift of 115 kg. Chile’s Camila Campos lifted 108 kg on her third and final lift to secure silver while Morocco’s Najat El Garraa took bronze with 100 kg.

Tom Smith and Charlotte McGuinness made their international debuts, with Smith lifting 97 kg to take bronze in the junior men’s up to 49 kg category.

Results

Women’s up to 41

Gold: Zoe Newson (Great Britain)

Women’s up to 45 kg

Gold: Gulim Kurmanbayeva (Kazakhstan)

Women’s up to 50 kg

Gold: Lidiia Soloviova (Ukraine)

Silver Loida Zabala Ollero (Spain)

Bronze: Oliva Broome (Great Britain)

Women’s up to 55 kg

Gold: Mariana Shevchuk (Ukraine)

Silver: Camila Campos (Chile)

Bronze: Najat El Garraa (Morocco)

Men’s up to 49 kg

Gold: Parvin Mammadov (Azerbaijan)

Silver: Adam Alderman (Great Britain)

Bronze: Tetsuo Nishizaki (Japan)

The competition continues from Friday 21 – Sunday 23 February. Tickets will be available at the event box office from 10:30am each day (£10 adults, £8 concessions, £5 children 14 and under). For the competition schedule, please click here.