YULE LIFTS BIG IN JAPAN TO BAG A BRONZE MEDAL

MICKY YULE lost both his legs as the earth exploded beneath him when he trod on a land mine while on patrol in Afghanistan in 2010.

But the 42-year-old from Musselburgh has arms like tanks and they lifted 182 kilos above his head to secure powerlifting bronze at the Paralympics on Saturday.

The former Staff Sergeant in the Royal Engineers saw his gamble to go low but go early in the 72kg event come up trumps when several rivals overplayed their hands.

And it was payoff for 11 years of fighting back from the split second when his life hung in the balance on the battlefields of Helmand Province.

‘We played a dangerous game of poker and we won and you know what — we never even had anything in our hand,’ Yule said.

‘It just means everything and it seems like a bit of a dream at the moment because I wasn’t

the strongest today but I had the best coaching staff. We had a plan and it just shows that you don’t always have to be the fastest or the strongest if you’re the smartest.’