Fit-again Beth sets sights on Games in Oz
She’s out to fulfil Commonwealth Games dream
A Livingston weightlifter is hoping to complete a remarkable comeback from illness to qualify for next year’s Commonwealth Games in Australia.
Twenty- year- old Beth McLellan lifted 76kg as she was recently crowned Scottish Junior champion in the 58kg category just a few months after her return from a year out due to problems with her blood.
But she’s now keen to concentrate fully on the future and has her sights on representing her country on the Gold Coast next year as well as the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
She said: “I had been a gymnast for about 10 years and competed at GB level but I picked up an injury and while it was tough to take at the time, everything happens for a reason.
“I’d always had decent strength and conditioning through my gymnastics training but I wasn’t too sure about going down the weightlifting route.
“I joined Team Cavanagh in 2015 and still wasn’t totally sold on the idea but I trained hard and won a few competitions so after that I knew that it was what I wanted to do.
“But then I got ill and had to take a year off. That was a really tough time because I wasn’t able to do anything.
“I came back and have since won the Scottish Junior Championship and qualified for the British so it’s all going well.”
Speaking about her spell away from the sport, Beth admits it was a difficult time as doctors struggled to reach a diagnosis while she also suffered a setback when first attempting to start training again.
She said: “I was getting small lumps on the back of my head and getting blood tests done every couple of weeks.
“They weren’t happy with the results but couldn’t really figure out what was wrong. At one stage they thought it might have been leukemia but it wasn’t.
“They told me to take six months off completely and when I went back into training, the lumps kept coming back so I ended up taking another six months off.
“Since I’ve started up again, fingers crossed, everything has gone smoothly and to plan so hopefully it’s all gone.
“It might have been the change and stress on my body between going from gymnastics to weightlifting. I don’t really know but hopefully it’s all in the past now and I can look to the future.
“It’s a big change to go from gymnastics to weightlifting but I knew a few people who have done it.
“The flexibility and strength that you need is really there because of the gymnastics training, so it’s more about learning the technique, that’s the difficult part.
“I’m getting there on that front. I can lift a fair amount but I’m sure it would be even more if I had the perfect technique.”
Her success this year has seen Beth selected to compete at the Commonwealth Championships taking place on the Gold Coast in September where a good performance would strengthen her hopes of reaching the Commonwealth Games the following year.
Her coach, Ray Cavanagh, is well placed to talk about qualification for the Games, having competed in both 1994 and 2002 as well as seeing his pupils participate in Glasgow 2014 and the Commonwealth Youth Games four years earlier.
He insists the Livi lass has a glittering future ahead of her in the sport, saying: “Beth joined Team Cavanagh in 2015 and had a great training background and philosophy from gymnastics, where she reached Team GB level.
“She has trained very hard and certainly has a bright future at Scottish and hopefully GB level. She’s incredibly determined and has lots of potential.
“Beth still has some technical issues to iron out and when she has done that, she will progress quite a bit in a short space of time.
“Her Scottish Junior title at 58kg and second place finish at her first British Championships is proof that she has the ability to have a bright future in the sport.”
However, as is often the case with so-called ‘minority’ sports, funding is practically non-existent.
Beth has to work at two jobs on top of fitting in all her training, as well as relying on the financial support of her family, to compete in events across the country which she admits is taking its toll.
She said: “I train hard and competing at events like the Commonwealth Games and Olympics would be a dream.
“It’s tough at times because there’s no funding there. I train three or four times a week, in Glasgow, so there’s a lot of time being taken with travelling.
“On top of that, when I’m home I go to the gym a lot to keep my fitness and strength up. I’m never really home to be honest. I’m either training or working but I enjoy weightlifting and want to go as far as I can in the sport.”
Her trip to Australia is set to cost at least £ 2000. To help her achieve her dream, there will be a fundraising evening at Grand Central in Livingston on June 30 with tickets priced £5 with donations for raffle prizes welcome.
Beth has also set up a Go Fund Me page at www.gofundme.com/962sj5ns while any individual or company who wishes to sponsor Beth and help her fund her trip to Australia are advised to email mmckellar@live.com.
I was getting small lumps on the back of my head and getting blood tests done every couple of weeks