Alex's Report on his First Official Competition!

On Sunday the 1st of December I took part in a tier 3 British Weight Lifting competition . 

I wanted to do this competition because it would be the first big step in my weightlifting journey. 

As I want to be an Olympic weightlifter I knew hat I had to start here.

Although out of my comfort zone & extremely nervous, Charlotte & my other coaches reminded me that I was ready & up to it.

Before the comp we stayed in a hotel where I was a mixture of excitement, nerves & fear! The morning of the competition I still felt very nervous but thrilled at the opportunity I was about to take part in.

The set up of the comp was new to me with some familiar aspects. I was weighed in & then watched the women’s category which was interesting & exciting but made me more nervous because I was anxious to get into the warm up room.

My first lift went very well, as I opened on a new comp PB snatch. My second lift didn’t go so well & I got a no lift as I dropped it. The same happened with the third...

After this I dropped a lift in the warm up room & this just got into my head. Triggering thoughts that I couldn’t do it. I felt the pressure & it got to much for me.

After a long wait to my clean & jerk, I was feeling awful & I didn’t think I could carry on. But Charlotte & Ryan we’re there for me & helped me so much tp work through my mental difficulties.

I eventually started my first clean & jerk & got a really good lift. I was determined to win, I saw on the score board that if I went one kilo up I would draw in my category so I went two kilos up! I was determined to win & the competitive desire kicked in! I hadn’t worked so hard to draw in my first big competition.

I got the lifts & went on to win Gold in my category.

It was a fantastic experience for me where I learned so much about the sport & about myself. I am proud that I was able to turn things around mentally & go on to get a fantastic outcome even when things looked so bad at one point!!

I have learned from my experience that I am strong & capable of much more than I thought.

This was an overall amazing experience, with highs and lows but it has spured me on to achieve more & continue my journey. I realise now how much work I must put in to be successful at my sport. Thank you to my club for supporting me, it means so much.

- Alex Lycett