Inverness and Highland do battle for medals at Northern District Weightlifting Championships
City rivals Highland Weightlifting Club and Inverness Olympic Weightlifting Club went to battle over a number of medals at the Northern District Championships last weekend.
It was the two clubs in the Highland capital that dominated the results list, with a notable sign of progress being that the overall number of competitors has doubled since the inaugural championships in 2021 – including three times as many female lifters as male.
Scottish champion Karen Saint reaffirmed her dominance in the 49kg class, feeling comfortable enough to smile at her children watching on as she lifted the winning weight.
At the other end of the scale, 14-year-old Mischa Allan caught the eye by posting a qualifying total for the British age group championships in September.
Allan was not along in achieving success at such a young age, though, with fellow 14-year-olds Patrick Johnston, Mairi Scotston and Calum Low all also winning their respective classes to walk away with gold medals.
Elsewhere among the women’s results, Shetland lifter Mhia Mouat won the 55kg class and Highland Weightlifting Club junior Mairi Scotston prevailed in the 59kg class.
Crossfit specialist Kimberly Ross lifted superbly to win the 64kg class and take the overall best female lifter award on the day.
Masters lifter Megan Taylor won a highly competitive 71kg class, joining her fellow Highland Club mate Sara Boussaikouk who won a tight battle to prevail in the 87kg class.
Hayleigh Wishart from the Inverness Club completed the day with a fabulous 90kg clean and jerk to wrap up the women’s competition with a win in the 76kg class.
Spectators were also treated to some good battles across the weight classes in the men’s competition.
The lighter classes were dominated by juniors Low and Johnson, both claiming gold, while Inverness lifter Jordan Bowie prevailed in the 81kg class.
In the heavier men’s classes, Connal Bain won the 96kg class and Ollie Smith from Highland lifted an impressive 101kg in his final lift to win the 109kg class.
Although Matej Papp bombed out on the day in the 102kg class, he demonstrated his incredible athleticism with an impressive 112kg personal best snatch, and despite lifting 145kg in the clean and jerk overhead three times, he could not quite do enough to get the ’good lift’ signals from the referees.
Highland Weightlifting Club Chair Steve Walsh said: “A big thanks to our colleagues from Weightlifting Scotland for travelling north to support an event in the Highlands and also to Inverness Leisure staff for the huge amount of work in preparing the venue and providing the equipment.
“A big thanks to all of the officials, loaders, competitors and spectators for really making the event work so brilliantly on the day, having recently lifted at British, European and World championships, this event is right up there with all of them in terms of atmosphere.”
