HORSHAM-BORN weightlifter Craig Blythman has won gold at the World Masters Games in Auckland.
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The 46-year-old won the men’s 45-49 age division by lifting 105 kilograms in the snatch and 122 kilograms in the clean-and-jerk.
He said he was unsure how he would fare leading into last week’s competition.
“Before I went over (to New Zealand) I was ranked third, so I thought I might be in medals – but to win was great,” he said.
Blythman left Horsham as a 14-year-old after accepting a scholarship at the Australian Institute of Sport.
He said he unexpectedly fell into the sport as a teenager.
“I got into weightlifting after breaking my arm at Horsham High School,” he said.
“Originally I had wanted to go the the Olympics as a swimmer. When John Waterworth came to the school to promote the weightlifting club I thought it would be a good way to strengthen my arm to get back in the pool.
“It then got to a point that I was more interested in weightlifting than swimming.”
After winning a bronze medal at the 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester and narrowly missing out on Olympic squads, Blythman stopped weightlifting for a decade.
“It was a bit of a bittersweet journey because I always had that goal of making the Olympics and just missed out as a reserve,” he said.
As a personal trainer in Surrey Hills, Bythman saw the sport becoming more popular because of crossfit and two years ago he decided to pick up the weights again.
He said although he wasn’t sure how his body would go getting back into the sport, he now felt more capable than ever before.
“There is a powerfulness you feel in your body,” he said
“I can help people move now without it being a struggle. Two or three years ago I just did not feel the same.”
Last year he won the Grand Master title at the Asia Pan Pacific Masters, a title that is awarded beyond age and gender divisions.
“I would put that on par with winning the world Masters because it is open to everyone,” he said.
He said it was great that people in Horsham could continue to follow his journey.
“My mum (Marg Simmonds) has always been my number one fan and I still have cousins and friends in the area,” he said.
