POWERLIFTER Kelly Phasey says winning the Western European Cup has given her confidence the ‘world of good’ ahead of the World Championships.
The 39-year-old from Bromsgrove clinched gold in La Manga, Spain, after squatting 182kg, benching 127.5kg and dead-lifting 160kg.
Although Phasey was the only person competing in her category, she still needed to land each lift and overcome the disappointment of getting disqualified at the All England Championships last month.
“There was a lot of pressure on me and because I competed in a national competition four weeks before and got disqualified I was really nervous about it,” she said.
“So I was really cautious with my numbers and made sure my opening lifts were lower than what they would normally be, so they would be really easy and then I could go a little bit crazy with the rest of the lifts.
“I got a personal best on bench, so I was pleased with that and I managed to get eight out of the nine lifts which was good.
“Winning gold hasn’t sunk in yet. It was a bit surreal standing on the platform and having the national anthem played.”
Phasey said the medal was just what she needed before heading to Hamm in Luxembourg to compete against the world’s best in November.
“I think going to the Western European Cup has done my confidence the world of good and has helped settled my nerves going into the worlds,” she added.
“There is no way I will be coming back with a medal of any description because the field that I am competing against will be absolutely phenomenal.
“But the experience of competing on that kind of platform will be amazing. Although I have competed on the international stage already this year, this will be another level, so I am really looking forward to it.”
