Emily Campbell

Emily Campbell, born on May 6th, 1994, is a British weightlifter and the most successful British weightlifter of modern times. She competes in the +87 kg category, and she’s achieved truly remarkable success, including becoming the first British woman to win an Olympic medal in weightlifting. Her journey from a small estate in Nottinghamshire to international fame shows how far talent and dedication can get you.

She graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a degree in Sports Science in 2016. Her academic background in sports science provided a solid foundation for her weightlifting career because it combines practical application with theoretical knowledge.

Her weightlifting career took off when she competed in the women’s +90 kg event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, where she won a bronze medal. This opened up the international stage for her. The next year, she got a bronze medal at the 2019 European Championships. 

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, which were held in 2021 because of the pandemic, Campbell made history when she won a silver medal in the women’s +87 kg event. She lifted 122 kg in the snatch and 161 kg in the clean and jerk, which came up to a total of 283 kg. This achievement made her the first British female weightlifter to win an Olympic medal. 

Her success continued in 2021, when she won the bronze medal at the 2021 World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. In 2022, she retained her European title and won the gold medal at her home Commonwealth Games and set a new Commonwealth Games record. Campbell upgraded her World Championships bronze medal to silver in Bogota and by 2023, she has had 3 consecutive European titles. 

The road to her first Olympic was challenging; she had to raise £10,000 to enter qualifying competitions after British Weightlifting lost its UK Sport funding after the 2016 Rio Games. 

Her training is very rigorous, and she has multiple sessions per week that focus on strength, technique, and endurance. She recently made personal tweaks to her program, including coming off hormonal contraception and working with performance nutritionist dr. Sinead Roberts. She consumes around 4,200 calories a day to make sure she stays on top of her game. 

Aside from her sports achievements, she’s become a spokesperson for body positivity and promotes the message “big is beautiful”.