2020 Vision... Charlotte Neale

Sunday 05 January 2020

For aspiring Olympic weightlifter, Charlotte Neale, 2019 was an amazing year which culminated in being selected to represent Great Britain.

The 15-year-old weightlifting "wunderkind" is however hoping 2020 will be even better.

As well as aiming to achieve personal bests in her sport the teen girl is also hoping to do well in her GCSEs.

Pictured: A relaxing Christmas ahead of a busy 2020.

Charlotte only took up the sport in April 2018 thanks to Jersey Sport Foundation’s ‘Power to Podium’ programme which is aimed at developing local women to compete at Commonwealth level. In under two years, she’s already made her mark becoming Regional, England and British Champion.

After the excitement of being selected as part of team GB at the European Youth Championships in Israel in December, it was back home to Jersey for Christmas with the family – and a spot of revision. 

Reflecting on the competition, Charlotte said it had gone well with her achieving 60kg in the snatch, and 73kg in the clean and jerk, giving her a combined total of 133kg, up from a total of 110kg at the beginning of 2019.

Pictured: Charlotte believes the European Youth Championships has provided her with valuable experience she can build on.

"It was an amazing experience where I learnt to focus on myself and keep calm," she said, sharing hopes it will help her in future competitions.

For 2020, Charlotte's aims are to get personal bests in her new age category – she set three British under-15 records last year lifting 59kg and 74kg in the snatch and clean and jerk disciplines. She also hopes to lift 140kg which would get her on the Olympic pathway.

Her long-term aim is to represent Team GB at the 2028 Olympics, although she says the 2024 Games in Paris could also be a possibility.