Emily is Britain’s first ever women’s weightlifting Olympic medal winner, having lifted a 238kg clean & jerk to win silver in the +87kg category at Tokyo 2020. More recently in 2022, Emily defended her European title and went on to secure her first Commonwealth Gold, an event held on home soil in Birmingham. Not bad for someone who has only been involved in the sport for 6 years. Emily’s formative years were spent in Athletics, specialising in shot put. It was whilst training to build her strength for this discipline, at Leeds Beckett University, a friend taught her some ‘snatch’ and ‘clean & jerk’ techniques. In Emily’s words “I only wanted to get stronger for the shot. Within 18 months of starting weightlifting. I was winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games.” Emily’s sights are firmly set on Paris 2024, and hopes during that journey she will raise the profile of the sport and empower women across the world, with an appetite to get strong, to pick up a barbell.

Emily is Britain’s first ever women’s weightlifting Olympic medal winner, having lifted a 238kg clean & jerk to win silver in the +87kg category at Tokyo 2020. More recently in 2022, Emily defended her European title and went on to secure her first Commonwealth Gold, an event held on home soil in Birmingham. Not bad for someone who has only been involved in the sport for 6 years. Emily’s formative years were spent in Athletics, specialising in shot put. It was whilst training to build her strength for this discipline, at Leeds Beckett University, a friend taught her some ‘snatch’ and ‘clean & jerk’ techniques. In Emily’s words “I only wanted to get stronger for the shot. Within 18 months of starting weightlifting. I was winning bronze at the Commonwealth Games.” Emily’s sights are firmly set on Paris 2024, and hopes during that journey she will raise the profile of the sport and empower women across the world, with an appetite to get strong, to pick up a barbell.