Golden girl Zoe lifts Team England in India
14th October 2008Weightlifter Zoe Smith, at 14-years-old the youngest member of Team England competing at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India put up her best ever performance on her way to winning gold in the women’s - 53kg event.
The schoolgirl from Abbey Wood, who has only been weightlifting for two years, lifted 72kg in the first element of the competition - the snatch - an improvement of 5kg on her personal best and a new Commonwealth Youth and British Senior record. That lift gave her the lead at the halfway stage but her first attempt in the clean and jerk, with the bar at 82kg, was a failure as she lost her balance and fell backwards.
Showing all her determination and maturity beyond her years, Zoe regained her composure and clinched the gold medal with a lift of 87kg that her nearest rival from India failed twice to match. When she realised she had won, the former gymnast then celebrated with a back somersault to the delight of the crowd.
“It feels amazing,” Zoe said after receiving her medal. “I could have done better, but it’s my best international performance and I owe it all to my coaches. I’m overwhelmed - I can’t really believe I did it.”
A pupil of Townley Grammar School in Bexley Heath, she admitted that her first failure in the clean and jerk had been a nervous moment.
“I’ve never missed a clean before and I just started thinking ‘will I get it next time and am I going to get a total?’ I just tried to stay positive and my coach Sam and team manager Maggie were amazing and really gave me confidence.
“This medal means more to me than anything in the world,” she added, “and I’m just so happy.”
Team England has an 80-strong team competing at the 2008 Commonwealth Youth Games, which run from 12th to 18th October. Team England has athletes competing in all nine sports at the Games – athletics, badminton, boxing, shooting, swimming, table tennis, tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.
Team England finished first in the overall medals table at the first Commonwealth Youth Games, held in Edinburgh in 2000 with 36 golds, 41 silvers and 18 bronzes; and second at the 2004 Games in Bendigo, Australia, with 41 golds, 31 silvers and 29 bronzes.