Young Harborough powerlifter bags silver at world championships
A Harborough teenager has been awarded silver in a world championship powerlifting event.
Charlie Hartwell, who trains at Bruno’s Gym, competed in the British Drug Free Powerlifting Association World Championship in Rome earlier this month.
The 18-year-old earned a silver, coming second in the bench press event for his category, after he lifted up to 125kg. He tried for 132kg when he suddenly experienced immense pain in lower his back.
He said: “It felt like a muscle popping out, I’m not quite sure what happened but I was in a considerable amount of pain. It was a bit of a nightmare as I didn’t manage the lift.”
He narrowly missed out on third place in the deadlift event – lifting a weight from the floor to hip-level – after lifting up to 205kg.
Despite missing out on the top awards – and his painful disc slipping experience – he has no regrets.
He said: “Overall it was really good. I had a great trip with my dad – we drove 300 miles to Rome, it was a cracking experience and I was glad to come home with a silver. It’s definitely something to remember.”
Charlie, who is studying for an engineering degree at Silverstone UTC, started powerlifting five years ago with no experience. He said it was a way of escaping ‘a troubling time’ and, from there, his passion grew.
He is now training towards the European Championships which will take place in Horncastle in September. He is aiming to break records by bench pressing 245kg.
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