Precious targets world titles

Precious Collins, who only took up the sport last November after being spotted at Zeus Gym, is aiming for the open and junior titles at the global event in Prague.

The 22-year-old said: “I’ve done really well in the competitions leading up to it, wining all but one of the six I’ve taken part in.”

There are three components to the discipline: squat, benchpress and deadlift, with three attempts at maximal weight on each. And the prison custody officer from Kent Street, near Sedlescombe, certainly puts in the hours, training five or six times a week at her Hastings-based gym.

She also powerlifts at Performance Fitness in Eastbourne under the guidance of Scott Halliday, who is taking several other athletes from the south east to the Czech Republic as part of the British team.

Collins continued: “I train on the vast majority of days after work. It’s not all just lifting, though, but also general cardio which improves my all- round fitness.”

Collins’ remarkable rise in the sport was confirmed when she broke the open class world record for the deadlift, setting a new benchmark of 140kg at the end of August.

She went on to claim the junior world record at the same BPU competition in Folkestone with a remarkable lift of 152kg. As a result, she is optimistic about her chances in Prague next month.

“I’m feeling very good,” she said. “The recent results and new records have certainly put me on the right track so hopefully I can break some more records and win my categories at the event.”

Collins flies out to the continent on October 28 with the events scheduled to take place over the following two days.