Teen weightlifter 'excited' at hitting world stage

A 16-year-old weightlifter from South Yorkshire is getting ready to hit the world stage as she represents Team GB Youth at the Youth World Championships in Peru.

Annie, from Doncaster, has already flown out to Lima, the South American country's capital, in preparation for the contest which is run by the International Weightlifting Federation.

The teenager began weightlifting when she was just 11 years old and she is now about to face her biggest sporting challenge so far.

Annie said that while she "didn't really expect to come this far", she was "really excited now" ahead of the start of the competition.

Speaking before the journey to Lima, Annie said she had been training four times a week, with each session lasting three hours.

She said that at the same time as her weightlifting preparations, she was also getting ready to take her A-Levels.

"School gives me time off when I have my free periods so I can come and train, which is good," she said.

Annie explained that as a college student, her day revolved around training, resting and revising.

"I wake up in the morning, do my squats, go to school and then train, come home and eat my dinner."

She said that her schedule leading up to any competition was very tight, but she believed being at the gym actually helped her with her studies.

"It just makes your brain really quiet. You can concentrate on something and not think about anything else," she said.

At the Youth World Championships 2025, Annie will compete against young weightlifters from 19 other countries in her 59kg weight category.

She said she would be expected to demonstrate two types of lifts: one known as "the snatch" and other being "the clean and jerk".

Every athlete would get three attempts at each lift.

The snatch is a single-motion lift where the barbell is lifted overhead from the floor, while the clean and jerk involves two phases.

One phase sees the barbell brought to the shoulders, while the other sees it lifted overhead.

"I did my last competition in December when I snatched 72kg and clean and jerked 91kg", Annie explained.

Luke Stopford, Annie's coach at the Yorkshire Strength gym in Castleford, explained that competitors must "fully immerse" themselves if they wanted to succeed.

"The competition is very high, especially in the females across the world. You have to show full commitment," he said.

"It takes a very high level of commitment, especially nowadays. It's very competitive. It's a very, very hard sport - and an unforgiving sport as well."

Mr Stopford has coached Annie since she first picked up a barbell when she was 11.

Mr Stopford, who has himself been coaching since he was 16, said he was "proud" to have watched Annie grow as a weightlifter.

"She progressed really quickly, enjoyed it and committed to it straight away. She just took to it like a duck takes to water," he said.

With the competition in Lima due to get under way on 30 April, the 16-year-old said she was now just looking forward to taking part.

"Hopefully, I'll have a good comp," she said.

"I'm really excited, especially because it's not somewhere you get to go every day.

"I just want to have a good time and meet new people."

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