Powerlifter prepares for Paralympics challenge

Powerlifter Lottie McGuinness will compete at her first Paralympics in Paris

When Lottie McGuinness lifts the barbells at the Paralympics next week it will be the fulfilment of a childhood dream.

The 22-year-old powerlifter from Harrogate will be taking part in her first games after having first been inspired by watching the London 2012 Paralympics.

While she began her sporting career as a swimmer, she switched to powerlifting five years ago and she now hopes to succeed in the women’s 55kg category in Paris.

She said: “It’s been a long uphill battle, but I’ve got there in the end and the view is incredible."

'Best job'

Ms McGuinness admitted her route to Paris 2024 had definitely not been straightforward.

She explained that at one point she "went through a bad space in the sport" which had left her wondering if she wanted to continue.

However, she said she "came out the other side such a better person" and she now considered powerlifting the "best job in the world”.

Ms McGuinness said that in the past five years, she had gone from lifting 40kg to 104kg, and in just two years she had "put 20kg on the bar".

"It’s really made me fall in love with the sport again," she added.

A lot of the work to reach that standard took place in the barn next to her home in the Yorkshire Dales where she built a gym during the Covid pandemic.

“When lockdown was announced, I got some basic gym equipment, some resistance bands and little dumb bells,” she said.

“I like training alone. In the winter the barn is cold, it gets freezing in there. When it’s yucky and dark, it's hard to get in there - but you have to adapt.”

Ms McGuinness said while she worked part-time for the NHS to supplement her income, doing sport for a job was “pretty cool”.

Ms McGuinness said her paralympic journey began with swimming, when her school nurse wrote to double-gold medallist swimmer Ellie Simmonds for help inspiring her as she was struggling to come to terms with her disability.

“I got a letter back to say: ‘Come to the World Dwarf Games, meet people like yourself’ - and I realised what the Paralympics was,” she said.

That letter kick-started a dream and by Christmas 2012, the 10-year-old's presents were all Paralympics-themed, including an athlete fact file in which her now teammate Zoe Newson was featured.

“I have a bracelet that my nana bought on a plane after London 2012, and she said to the flight stewardesses: ‘My granddaughter needs one of those because she wants to be in the Paralympics.’

"I always wear it when I’m competing. It’s always on my ankle and it’s my good luck charm.”

Swimmer Ellie Simmonds originally encouraged Lottie McGuiness to attend the World Dwarf Games

When the powerlifting events start at the Paris Paralympics on 4 September, fans can expect to see many athletes with different disabilities, Ms McGuinness said.

“You’ll see people with dwarfism to athletes in wheelchairs,” she said.

"We will lay on a flat bench, legs out, under a bar, and lower it with a pause and then push it up and put it back on a rack. The biggest weight lifted wins.

“In my category, around 135kg will be gold and then in the heavy men’s divisions it will be around 260kg.

"It’s such a vast sport with so many athletes and strengths.”

Listen to highlights from North Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.