Reigning English 56kg Champion Luca Michael has set a new British under 23 record after successfully lifting a total of 183kg at the British Weightlifting Universities & Colleges Championships in London.
Despite carrying an elbow injury, the London based lifter managed to complete a snatch of 72kg and a clean & jerk of 111kg to seal victory and claim the British record.
It was a remarkable turnaround for Michael after he bombed out of the Scottish Championships two weeks prior to this event after failing to register a total.
The spotlight was on Michael as he was the sole competitor in his group at London. The lifter managed to keep his cool and composure on the platform to secure an overall total to take the title.
Michael’s performance in the tournement helped University College London finish 5th overall in the Top Team Rankings. The competition was won by Bournemouth University for the second year in a row.
Bournemouth retained the title by narrowly beating favourites Loughborough University by 5 points. The latter institute is where the sports national development centre is located.
— Conner Kacperski (@ConnerKacperski) April 1, 2017
Speaking after the event Michael said: “Well now I’m going to rehabilitate my elbow. I’ve had a lot of issues over the last few weeks.
“I only did one snatch today, but it’s just a battle against yourself at the end of the day if it’s a one-man group.
“You need to get your total first. Then you just do what you want after that. If you have any goals, you can just try and reach them in that comp and get a bit of experience as well.”
While Michael was representing University College London at the competition, his local Oakland's club trainer Richard Kite was keeping a watchful eye over him during the event.
Kite coached him during the competition and Michael benefited from the experience of the man who also occupies the role of British Weightlifting Development Officer for Greater London.
With the British Senior Championships looming on the horizon in July, Michael is beginning his preparation for the biggest weightlifting competition in the country.
This year’s event is being held at the Ricoh Arena in Coventry and it is also acting as a qualifying round for the 2018 Commonwealth Games, hosted in the Gold Coast, Australia.
Looking ahead to the future Michael said: “I need to get my snatch up and clean & jerk. Hopefully I can get a Commonwealth total and European under 23 qualification.
“That’s the aim in the future for me.”
