Loughborough student Olivia wins powerlifting bronze in Tokyo
OLIVIA Broome only came to Tokyo for experience but will return home with Paralympic powerlifting bronze, writes Tom Harle, of Sportsbeat, in Tokyo.
Broome produced a personal best lift of 107kg when it mattered most to reach the -50kg podium on her Games debut at the Tokyo International Forum.
The 20-year-old Loughborough University student lifted an equal lifetime high of 106kg at the first attempt and then watched Ukraine’s Lidiia Soloviova fail to lift 108kg to confirm her place on the rostrum.
“I’m so happy,” said Broome, who is of short stature.
“I couldn’t believe it when I came off the platform - I haven’t stopped smiling.
“The lift itself felt great. Opening on my personal best was a little bit daunting, but I’ve done it before, I’ve done it plenty of times and I had to tell myself that in the warmup.
“It was just like we practised it in training. It was nervy but also exciting.”
Broome is the latest short stature success story for ParalympicsGB, with Maisie Summers-Newton winning S6 200m freestyle gold in the pool on Thursday night.
It seems a connection to fivetime Paralympic champion Ellie Simmonds is the tie that binds them, having watched her win gold at Beijing 2008 aged 13.
“It’s a massive inspiration to see people like Ellie doing so well,” said Broome.
“When I was a lot younger, there weren’t many short stature athletes in the Paralympics and now to see more and more coming through, it’s incredible.”
Broome was identified as suited to powerlifting through UK Sport’s talent identification programme and made her international debut at the 2017 World Championships.
The lifter from Chorley, Lancashire, admits that the postponement of the Paralympics played into her hands, giving her more time to reach a podium-level performance.
“I came here treating these Games as just for experience with a long career ahead of me,” she said.
“Even my family back home asked me about Paris and I just wanted to get my first one under my belt.
“If the Games weren’t postponed it would have been a different story, but a lot changed and now I’m here.”
It was an emotional morning for Britain’s powerlifters as Rio silver medallist, Loughborough-based Ali Jawad, conquered Crohn’s disease to compete in the men’s -59kg.
Jawad, who finished sixth, stayed to watch Broome, his training partner and close friend, win bronze and tweeted his delight at her triumph.
“I remember being pretty starstruck when I first trained with Ali,” she said.
“Now that I get to call him one of my best friends, and the rest of the team, my best friends, it’s incredible.”
There was disappointment for Zoe Newson, who trains regularly on the Loughborough campus as part of the British Weightlifting set-up, as she finished 4th in the women’s up to 41kg category.
Newson lifted 94kg in an incredibly competitive group, but the London 2012 and Rio 2016 bronze medallist couldn’t reach the podium this time around.
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