Historically, sport transfer has been a common route into competitive weightlifting, and has produced some of BWL’s top performing athletes, with Emily Campbell and Zoe Smith being just a couple. Athletes tend to transfer to weightlifting from many sports such as judo, gymnastics, athletics, CrossFit and more.

This section will be updated soon

Deadline for 2025-2026 applications: tbc

Any further questions, please contact:

Chris Murray

chris.murray@britishweightlifting.org

Madison Farley joined the BWL Talent Transfer Programme in 2022 and has since represented Great Britain at two European Junior and Under 23 Championships and Brough home 1 Gold and 2 Silver Medals in 2024, 2.5 years after joining the programme.

What sport did you do before weightlifting?

I have done competitive sports since I was younger, Gymnastics, Trampolining and then CrossFit which has weightlifting within.

How did you find out about weightlifting?

I learnt about weightlifting through CrossFit which I had picked up when some of my family had started at our local CrossFit gym. I got hooked quickly with the competitive aspect and all the new skills to try and perfect, one of which was weightlifting.

What made you switch to weightlifting?

Weightlifting quickly became my favourite part about CrossFit. I used to excel at the weightlifting workouts at competitions but fell short in the other aspects so they had become my main focus in training. I soon realised that I only wanted to work on weightlifting and see how far I can push myself.

How have you found the talent transfer programme so far?

Working with the BWL Coaches through the Talent Transfer Programme has really benefited in all aspects of training and how to approach competitions. I’ve been able to learn more about competitions and the best way to prepare for them, ways to approach training better and overall ways to become a better Weightlifter.