Weightlifter Rebecca Tiler named in BBC Award Nominations
TEENAGED weightlifter Rebekah Tiler is one of ten athletes named in the nominations for the prestigious BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Awards 2013.
The 14-year-old from Denholme in West Yorkshire, who was crowned European Youth Champion in September, holds more than 200 British and English records at every age level up to senior and last month broke the European Under-15 records too.
Coached by Eddie Halstead, Rebekah has just returned from the Commonwealth Championships in Malaysia where she won the youth and junior titles as well as finishing fourth in the senior event.
Her nomination for the prestigious BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Award is just reward for all her hard work and success, and comes at a great time for weightlifting which is seeing large growth on the back of the London 2012 Olympics.
Around 20,000 more people are lifting weights than 12 months ago (Sport England Active People Survey, April 2013), while according to a Sport and Recreation Alliance survey 45 per cent more adults have taken up the sport in the last year - a bigger increase than any sport surveyed.
"It is an unbelievable achievement for me to get this far in the BBC Young Sports Personality of the Year Awards," said Tiler, who trains at Mytholmroyd WLC. "I am so proud of my family, my coach and other supporters because without their help I wouldn't have got this far."
And Ashley Metcalfe, Chief Executive of British Weight Lifting, added: "Rebekah has had a fantastic year and really deserves her nomination. These awards are about rewarding success and highlighting those who have made an impact at the start of their careers. Hopefully it will provide Rebekah and her team the confidence, encouragement and focus to aim for further successes in the future as she progresses from the junior to senior ranks.
"It is an exciting time for our sport and Rebekah's success highlights how weightlifting can be both a really enjoyable sport but also a beneficial one, helping people of all ages and sizes become stronger, fitter and healthier."
As of the end of November 2013, Rebekah has broken 219 British Records at Under-23, Under-20, Under-18, Under-17, Under-16, Under-15, Under-15, Under-14 and England Senior level.
The Bingley Grammar School pupil also broke the European Under-15 Record at the Northern Open Championship on November 16, where she lifted 86kg in the snatch and 116kg in the clean and jerk, totalling an impressive 202kg.
That beat the totals she achieved in the European Youth Championships in Lithuania, where she won three gold medals.
Behind the scenes, British Weight Lifting has a growing team of dedicated staff helping to produce the next generation of weightlifters with development work and talent identification schemes seeing more and more people trying their hand at weightlifting.
