A BRIERLEY Hill powerlifter has walked away with three medals after representing Team GB in her first ever international competition.

Bobbie Butters, who is currently studying for a masters in strength and conditioning at the University of Central Lancashire (UCLan) in Preston, won two silvers and a bronze medal at the European Open Classic Powerlifting Championships in Lithuania.

The 24-year-old, who competes in the 57kg category, is currently ranked second in the country across all weight categories.

She won silver for squat and bench before being awarded bronze overall. Butters is also the first female and third ever powerlifter in the North West Powerlifting Division to achieve above 500 Wilks score, which is used to measure the strength of a powerlifter.

She said: “I came away from my first international competition with four personal bests and that to me is the mark of a very successful day. To also come away with three medals is just an incredible and surreal bonus. This success is the result of staying calm and in control throughout the whole competition and bringing the fire when it was required, I couldn’t be happier with my performance.”

Butters, who has been powerlifting since she was 16, has ambitions to become a strength and conditioning coach and eventually launch an online coaching business with her partner. She has already completed an undergraduate degree in strength and conditioning at UCLan and aims to complete her Masters by research, which focuses on the snatch lifting technique in male weight lifters, in December 2019.

“We endeavour to coach strength athletes and guide them to become the best versions of themselves that they can be” she said. “My degree was a stepping stone in allowing these career plans to be possible by giving me the appropriate tools to endlessly evolve as a coach and person.”

The dedicated athlete, who attended Crestwood School and Dudley College of Technology before heading to UCLan, says she lives a “militant lifestyle” and balances her studies with training two to three hours a day, five days a week.

She said: “I plan my weeks and days ahead of schedule to be able to prioritise all the important tasks that I need to get done on any given day. This allows me to complete them all at the most optimum time of the day, so everything is done to the best of my ability and I can give 100 per cent effort. I see my athletic career as a continuous journey where one competition builds into another, where I will always be proud of my performance and willing to learn from the mistakes to improve further.”