Nikole Roberts competed on day one of the Championships for Wales, in the women’s 48kg group A. Having struggled early on with a no lift first up with her snatch, which looked close to injuring herself, Nikole recovered well to lift a 70kg. She lifted an 80kg clean and jerk for her 150kg total, which ended up putting herself in the podium places with a bronze medal position – the same outcome as last years Championships.
Mixed results occurred on day 2 with Madaline Connelly in the women’s 53kg category, and both Catrin Jones’ in the 58kg category. As Madaline was currently trying to manage a pre-existing injury, she lifted a 60kg total on her initial road back to full recovery. At the turn of the evening of day 2, we seen both Catrin Jones’ take to the platform in the same 58kg A group. However, unfortunately for Catrin Haf Jones she was unable to post a total. Whereas, Catrin Jones did tremendously well in reaching a 170kg total, from a 73/97 score. An 11th place total finish is something Catrin should be proud of.
On day 3, there was also three athletes representing Wales as Charlotte Whalley, Chloe Hood, and Michael Farmer took centre stage. There were PB’s earned for Charlotte in the snatch where she lifted 83kg and in her total of 183kg, continuing in her impressive progression in recent years. Elsewhere, we saw Michael Farmer in the men’s 71kg A group lift a solid 125/152, 277kg total to take 7th spot overall, but we there is still room for improvement to come. Finally, in the women’s 69kg B group, there was the turn of Chloe Hood who was competing in her first ever Commonwealth Championships. She did everyone very proud in her performance of a 189 kg total (81/108), which came out as a 2nd amongst the B group and a top 10 overall place finish.
Day 4 took the turn of Nicola Stiddard in the women’s 77kg and Alex Moseley in the men’s 88kg, both competing in the respective B group’s. Both put in outstanding performances to show their class amongst the B group, with both taking top spot. Nicola went 6 from 6 in all her lifts, earning a 205kg total, from best lifts of 89 in the snatch and 116 clean and jerk. A 7th place overall position is what Nicola ended up on which is a brilliant achievement. Alex on the other hand achieved a 279kg total from a 124kg snatch and 155kg clean and jerk, as he finished 12th overall.
There were no Welsh lifters competing on day 5, but in day 6 which was the final competition day of the Championships was for our final Welsh athlete to take the spotlight - in James Wales of the men’s 110kg category. However, James really unfortunately picked up an injury on our pre Commonwealth Championships training camp in Cardiff a week prior to the event in which resulted in James being in a position to be unable to take to the platform to record any lifts. We wish James well for a speedy full recovery.
As the first international competition for our new coaching team as well, this was an excellent opportunity to bring the team together, establish stronger relationships and continue to build towards the shared aim of success as a nation on the international stage, and hopefully in a future Commonwealth Games in 2026.
As everyone has now returned back home from India and had time to reflect from the Championships, we can look on the real positives of this experience for our squad as they look ahead to further qualification opportunities for next year’s Commonwealth Games. A lot of learnings have been made, and for such a relatively young squad to compete against some of the best weightlifters across the Commonwealth shows the outstanding resilience every one of them has shown in both the lead up and during the competition itself.
We would like to thank the tremendous hospitality and warm welcome by all the event organisers and Team India both within the venue and on site at the hotel. It was a truly incredible venue for all our team to compete in and be a part of such a well-run, high spirited competition.
Celebrating Support from The National Lottery & Welsh Government
Weightlifting Wales is a proud recipient of National Lottery and Welsh Government funding, which plays a vital role in helping us grow and strengthen the sport across Wales.
For over 30 years, The National Lottery has been a game changer for Welsh sport – funding elite athletes, supporting grassroots clubs, and investing in world-class facilities. This continued investment allows us to provide opportunities for our elite Welsh athletes to take to the platform at such high profile international events that is the Commonwealth Championships, proudly representing the nation on the global stage.
