Powerful Precious on top of the world

Precious Collins, who only took up the sport last November after being spotted at Zeus Gym in Hastings, secured the title with a combined total of 362.5kg at the WPC Benchpress and Powerlifting World Championships.

Collins lined-up in the under-82.5kg weight class at an event made up of three components: squat, benchpress and deadlift, with three attempts per competitor at each.

Collins managed to record personal bests in every category of the discipline as she lifted a weight of 135kg in the squat, 72.5kg in the benchpress and 155kg in the deadlift.

The prison custody officer from Kent Street, near Sedlescombe, has reaped the reward for a debut season characterised by lengthy sessions at Zeus Gym and Performance Fitness in Eastbourne.

The latter is where she has trained under the guidance of Scott Halliday, who took Collins, as well as several other representatives from the south east, to Prague; at Zeus she has been mentored by Rob Tillyer and Gary Underwood.

Collins was delighted with her display in the Czech Republic and hopes it can be a springboard for a repeat performance at the World Championships in Miami next year.

The 22-year-old athlete’s short term goal is to break her own world record in the deadlift at the turn of the year before she changes weight classification.

See today’s Hastings and Rye/Battle Observers for the full article.