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A 15-year-old weightlifter has made history by becoming the first Jersey athlete to be selected to represent Great Britain - just a year and a half after starting training.
Charlotte Neale will be representing GB at the European Youth Championships in Israel in December.
The weightlifting prodigy is one of five female lifters to have made the team and has made Jersey’s history in the process by becoming the first local athlete to ever represent Great Britain in the discipline.
Stuart Martin, the Talent Pathway Manager at British Weighlifting, described the group of athletes as “a very promising young team”, adding that it was “fantastic” to see a representation from Jersey for the first time ever.
Charlotte’s coaches at the Jersey Sport Foundation (JSF) described her selection as “a fantastic achievement for a very dedicated and hardworking athlete”.
"Charlottes inclusion in the GB squad for the European Youth Weightlifting Championships is a fantastic achievement after only 12 months as a competitive athlete," John Scriven, Head of Services at the JSF said. "The selection is testament to the commitment, determination and dedication she makes on a daily basis to the arduous training and competition programme. It also demonstrates that with good facilities, coaching, training environment and effective talent ID, Jersey can produce performance athletes."
Pictured: Charlotte's coaches described her as "a very dedicated and hardworking athlete.”
Mr Scriven added that Charlotte's selection "so early in her career" also demonstrates her future potential. "However it is important to understand that Charlottes involvement at the competition is very much an opportunity to gain some international experience and an important part of the pathway to high performance," he explained.
"Our goal for international competitions at this stage of her development is around mastery of the processes rather than outcomes. The step up to international level is big and will take some time for her to make the gains necessary to win at that level, as such at this stage of her development we want her to have fun, soak up the experience and learn, rather than winning which will come later on. The pressure is off in terms of challenging for medals, however knowing Charlotte, she might have something to say about that!"
Her teammate, para powerlifter, Rachel Leck, also congratulated her writing: "Proud to train alongside such a determined, hard working and motivated athlete!"
The teen started lifting weights in April 2018, as part of the JSF’s 'Power to Podium' Programme), which aims to prove Jersey can produce athletes able to compete at high level with a good coaching environment and the right system behind the athletes.
Since then the young athlete has been exceeding expectations. She made history in August 2018 by becoming the first Jersey athlete to take part in the British Junior Championships - after lifting nearly double the weight she needed to qualify for the competition – where she earned a Silver medal.
Earlier this year, she took Gold and scored a Champion title in the U15 category at the English National Junior Weightlifting Championships.
In July, she added another Gold medal to her collection, snatched three new British records and increased her personal best by 9kg in one fell swoop at the Bethnal Green Weightlifting Club.
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Just last week, it was announced she was in the running for the 'Aztec Group Sporting Performance of the Year' award for athletes under 21 in the RaceNation 2019 Sport and Move More Jersey Awards.
A few days later, she was told she had been selected for the European Youth Championships. While the teen knew it was a “possibility” after lifting 12kg above the qualification total, she still couldn’t believe it when the news came through an email sent to her parents.
“At first I was very excited, but it didn’t feel real, I also couldn’t wait to see who my teammates are,” Charlote said. “I told my coaches at the Jersey Sport Foundation and my family first as I wouldn’t have achieved this without their support.”
“It’s great to be representing Great Britain and it makes me proud to be the first weightlifter from Jersey, and I hope I will be the first of many,” the young lifter added.
While she has now “slightly” calmed down as the news settled in, the athlete has to keep cool head of the British Championships taking part this weekend.
“I am trying to focus on this weekend’s competition first and European youth championships after,” she explained.
“[This week] I will be doing lots of technique work and practicing my heavier lifts and then having a light session on Thursday before flying out on Friday for the competition.
“After this weekend’s competition I will be doing lots of work on my strength and speed to improve my lifts at my first international competition.”
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