Teenager keen to bow out in style

She took gold at the Scottish Senior Championships this year, but Pitlochry teenager Rowan Morrogh Bernard wants to pump even more iron in one of her last major competitions on the junior circuit.

The 16-year-old will head to Australia next month to compete in the Junior Commonwealths – which will be held in the same location as the senior event on the Gold Coast in 2018.

And after coming through a season injury-free after being hampered by both wrist and back problems, Morrogh Bernard insists she’ll grab the opportunity with both hands.

“This is my last year in the youth group because I turn 17 days after we come back from Australia, so I want to do really well,” said the teenager, who trains at Pitlochry Amateur Weightlifting Club.

“It’ll be really cool to compete in the same setting as the actual Commonwealth Games next year. I think it will be a special atmosphere and I’m hoping to medal.

“I think qualifying for the actual Commonwealth Games next year is a bit out of my reach, but it’s the sort of experience that I’ll value the most for when I eventually do get to that level.”

It will be a busy autumn for the Scot, who will head to Kosovo to compete in the European Youth Championships a few weeks after the Commonwealths, where she will be entering for the last time as a junior.

And having last lifted in the event as a 14-year-old, when she finished an admirable seventh, Morrogh Bernard says she’ll take everything in her stride and not put any pressure on herself.

“There’ll be some really good competitors so I’m expecting it to be tough. I’m just going to take it as it comes,” she added.