Academy’s champs very best of British
WEIGHTLIFTING MEDAL GLORY GIVES CUBE A MASSIVE LIFT
NORTH Tyneside-based Cube Weightlifting Academy claimed two new national titles at the British Age Group Championships.
The club also claimed a bronze and a fourth-place finish in two other categories in Castleford.
Amy Gibson (22) was the first to lift in a very competitive under-23 sub-63kgs category.
Gibson was in the last group of the first day of the championships, who did not start to lift until 8.30 in the evening.
Despite the late start, however, she fought hard against more experienced weightlifters to finish with a 58kg snatch and 70kg clean and jerk - both competition bests - to come came away with a bronze medal.
Theo Bayne-Dixon (14), a previous British schoolaAge champion in 2016 and British Youth Championship silver medallist earlier this year, defeated Aaron Moore from Scarborough Weightlifting Club to strike gold in the under-15s’ sub77kgs category.
There were only a few kilos between the two lifters but BayneDixon managed to finish with a 73kg snatch and an 80kg clean and jerk.
Next was Rachel Armstrong (17), who is new to weightlifting and who was taking part in her first national competition.
She contested the under-17s’ sub-69kgs category and was up against more experienced lifters.
However, she still came away with a snatch of 45kg and a 60kg Cube Weightlifting Academy’s Amy Gibson who won bronze at the British Weightlifting Age Group Championships with coach Josh Mosavi (right) and Hesus Kidd of Real Fitness personal best clean and jerk to finish in a very respectable fourth place - only narrowly missing out on a podium finish.
The last lifter for the club was Amir Doshman-Ziari, just recently turned 13 and who took part in the under-13s’ sub-94kgs category.
He wowed the crowd with a 56kg snatch and a 70kg clean and jerk, which are big numbers for one so young.
Dosman-Ziari is a seasoned lifter, having competed in regional and national development competitions - but this was his first British Championship. He also came away with a gold and a British title.
The club came sixth in the overall team rankings, gaining 35 points with just four lifters.
Head coach Josh Mosavi said: “We are really making our mark on the national weightlifting scene.
“We work with our members to develop them into competitive athletes worthy of competing against the best in Britain.
“I could not have been more proud of them all, especially Amy and Rachel who had to also deal with the nerves of a first National Championship.
“I am looking forward to many more achievements from these athletes in the future and they are an inspiration to people looking to compete or develop in Olympic weightlifting.”
Gibson and Armstrong were originally crossfit athletes at Real Fitness in Alnwick, whose coach Hesus Kidd brought them to Cube when he spotted their potential in the weightlifting element of crossfit.
Real Fitness and Cube have been working together for some time to develop potential talent in Olympic weightlifting and the Academy has been providing Olympic weightlifting seminars at Real Fitness.
Mosavi added: “We are proof the two sports can work together to create top weightlifers.”
Kidd said: “We were delighted with the results of Rachel and Amy at the championships.
“We have been working with Cube Weightlifting Academy to develop their potential and the coaches at Cube have brought that out to shine.
“We cannot thank them enough for their continued support and guidance.”
■ ANYONE interested in becoming involved in Olympic weightlifting should e-mail coaches@cubeweightlifting.co.uk or info@real-fitness.co.uk.