Winning feeling for lifter Phillips
Alex Phillips will never get tired of adding trophies and medals to his ever-growing haul of winnings.
The Pitlochry Weightlifting Club member, who is also the secretary, picked up another last weekend by claiming a title at the Scottish Masters in Glasgow.
Competing in the 81kg class of the 55 to 59 years age grouping, Alex snatched 47kg and clean and jerked 63kg for an overall 110kg total.
While not thrilled with every aspect of his lifting on the day, he is always a happy man when leaving an event with a medal to add to the collection.
“I was pleased with my performance in the snatch, because I was successful with all three lifts,” Alex said.
“But the clean and jerk did not go as planned as I took two attempts to get my opening weight of 63kg. With the third attempt I did clean the 65kg but failed the jerk.
“I achieved the minimum total that I set for myself of 110kg because the snatch went so well.
“I had been training two times a week for the last two months and I had also lost 10kg in body weight because I have moved to the 81kg class from the 89kg class.
“Due to the body weight loss I was not able to train as hard as I would have liked. The week before the competition in training I snatched 46kg and jerked 64kg, so I was not too far off my current total in the competition.”
Challenging himself to continually improve and lift at the highest level possible keeps the competitive juices flowing for Alex.
He has numerous Scottish titles to his name and said: “I still enjoy the challenge of competing each year to see if I can still do a reasonable total.
“And especially as the older you get the harder it is to maintain your flexibility and strength needed to be able to do the lifts.
“Because of that it is still just as great a feeling winning a Scottish title as it was when I won my first Scottish title in 1983.
“I am running out of space with where to put my trophies, although my latest award was only a medal.
“My next competition is the Scottish Masters Open in May, but I will still be busy refereeing at Scottish and British competitions.
“And hopefully I will be refereeing at a World Championships at the end of the year.”
When he gets a second, Alex is proud to look back on what he has and continues to achieve in the sport of weightlifting.
And there could soon be another prize forthcoming. The Highland
Perthshire talent is in the running for a top award at the upcoming celebration of Perth and Kinross sport.
“I’m a finalist for the Lifetime Achievement Award at the Perth and Kinross Sports Awards on March 20,” Alex said. “I have been runner-up twice before.
“I am very proud of my weightlifting career when I look back.
“But I am still annoyed with myself for the several titles that I lost by 2.5 kg, which at the time was the minimum weight you could lose by.”