Champion weightlifter, 13, dreaming of Olympics

A 13-year-old who has become the English weightlifting champion in her age group, says her ultimate dream is to go to the Olympics.

Stevie McNulty, from Salisbury, Wiltshire, won the female under-15s event at the competition in Maidstone, despite being the youngest in her category.

She has been weightlifting for two years, which she says makes her feel "strong and powerful".

Her mother, Nicki McNulty, said she is "immensely proud", adding: "The determination and effort that she shows is amazing."

Stevie has been training with her coach for two years

Aged 10, Stevie picked her father up at a wedding reception and said she was going to be a weightlifter one day.

The family found a local club, Kingdom Barbell, where Stevie could train and her coach Oli Icely-Brown, from Kaizen weightlifting, has been working with her since.

Nicki McNulty explained that the cost of training is worth it as Stevie gets so involved.

They are now planning to have weightlifting equipment at home so she can train there too.

Mr Icely-Brown said: "She was 11 when she started - she missed one session. Since then, she is in every week, four times a week, during the holidays, sometimes five days.

"There's days when she's tired, but she still comes in and does it. There's been times she hasn't gone to friends' birthday parties because she has training."

Stevie McNulty's next challenge is to qualify for the British Championships

To become the number one in her category, she lifted a total of 114kg at the event in February.

As well as weightlifting, Stevie has also become interested in nutrition.

"(I want to) have a gym with my own kitchen and be a chef as well," she said.

First though, she is aiming to qualify for the British Championships in October and then be selected for the youth development team.