Emily Campbell: Who is Question of Sport guest and Team GB’s Olympic weightlifter?
The 27-year-old made history in Tokyo as she became the first woman to win a weightlifting medal for Team GB
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Your support makes all the difference.Fresh from making Olympic history for Team GB in Tokyo, Emily Campbell lines up as a guest on a special episode of A Question of Sport.
Campbell won a sensational silver in Japan in the +87kg category to become the first British woman to win an Olympic weightlifting medal, and the first overall since 1984.
The 27-year-old was a relative unknown until earlier this year when she become the European champion, less than five years after taking up the sport.
The Nottingham-based athlete used to favour athletics where she competed in the hammer throw and shot put disciplines and she only began lifting weights to improve her strength for competitions.
It was there that she discovered she had a talent for weightlifting and she quickly progressed through the ranks, qualifying for the British championships less than six weeks into her training.
"I was naturally very strong and powerful, but I didn't have very good technique,” she said. “It was a lot of hard work drilling the technique over and over again. I progressed quite quickly, but at the same time I had to work hard for the progress. It has been a bit of a whirlwind."
After winning her historic silver medal in Tokyo, Campbell said she wanted her achievements to inspire others to do the same.
“If people have watched this today, then they can believe they can do it as well,” Campbell said. “I picked up a barbell for the first time five years ago and now I am an Olympic medallist. I am just very thankful.
“I started from the bottom, it wasn’t easy, it was a lot of hard work. I have worked pretty much my whole weightlifting career to fund myself. People at the local market would give me food, the cobbler would fix my boots. I want to say thank you to everyone.
“But my sole aim in this life is to inspire people to follow their dreams. And if they can do that then I am very happy.”
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