Emily Pursehouse clinches gold medal at the English Weightlifting Senior Championships

South Lopham’s Emily Pursehouse had hoped to finish on the podium at the English Weightlifting Senior Championships, but the fact she returned with a gold medal surprised even herself.

The 22-year-old, who was seeded number two for the event in Milton Keynes on Sunday, finished third 12 months ago.

However, she felt that her chances of improving upon that performance had been hampered by a back injury during the build up to the competition.

But the former Diss High School pupil defied that belief as a competition personal best snatch of 79kg was followed by an opening 93kg clean and jerk, leaving her needing to lift 100kg to clinch the title.

And she got the green light on that, taking her overall total to an unassailable 179kg, which was another personal best.

“I thought I would probably finish third again because of the injury,” said Pursehouse, who trains at the Crossfit gym in Eye.

“Nobody has been able to fully diagnose what the problem is and so I have struggled to get up to 100 per cent fitness.

“Because of all of that I was not expecting much. I was very surprised to win, but the 100kg did not feel as heavy as I was expecting.

“I could not believe it when I got the green light, I was so happy and it feels like a really big achievement.”

There will be no rest for the new English champion, who this weekend is set to be taken out of her comfort zone when she competes in the European Crossfit Championships in Colchester.

Pursehouse is a rookie in the multi-discipline competition, and so is using the trip to Essex to gain some experience for the future.

“I have not done many of these. Some parts of it I am good at and others not so much,” she added.

“It is all about getting some experience and then really attacking it next year. I want to finish in the top 10 of some events and finishing in the top half overall would be amazing.”