Bulwell weightlifter becomes first Briton to earn a gold medal in female weightlifting at the Commonwealth Games in front of a packed cheering crowd. Emily Campbell was victorious in the women’s +87kg category as she set a new personal best and games record of 124kg in the snatch portion of the event at the National Exhibition Centre, Birmingham
The 28 year old was three kilograms clear of Feagaiga Stowers, the reigning champion. Games records were achieved back and forth by the duo with their opening clean and jerks before Stowers failed on 154kg, allowing Campbell to claim the gold medal.
Campbell still had two lifts to go, and raised the bar again successfully with a lift of 157lb, before executing a 162kg lift. This beat her previous score in the Tokyo Olympics last year by three kilograms, when she won the first Olympic medal for Britain for women's weightlifting.
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Similar to when she dyed her hair red and blue when competing in Tokyo, Campbell surprised fans by dying her hair red and white for her performance at the Commonwealth Games.
Four years ago on the Gold Coast, Campbell took bronze behind Stowers who earnt gold, so it was clear that the 21 year old from Samoa would be her biggest competition to claim the title on home soil for the Commonwealth Games. Campbell's opening snatch of 117kg was met by Stowers, but she failed in her first attempt at 121kg.
This allowed the Bulwell weightlifter to move ahead at the halfway stage with a successful lift of 21kg, before setting the new games record with her impressive lift of 124kg.
Campbell was met with cheers by the packed home crowd each time she went to lift, and did not disappoint with her consecutive clean and jerks. The 28 year old was the third weightlifter to lead England into the games, following in Louis Martin's footsteps from 1966 and then the legendary Precious McKenzie several years later.
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