Across the weekend of the 21st and 22nd February, the excellent facility at Pembrokeshire Sports Village, within Strength Academy Wales in Haverfordwest was the location that hosted a thrilling first national competition weekend of 2026 for Weightlifting Wales.

With a total of 64 entrants for the Welsh Age Group Championships, as well as numerous athletes coming over from England to compete at our Home Nations Open, there was a very strong field of competitors across both event days. Making it a great spectacle for all those who were in attendance, which saw vibrant and atmospheric crowds, especially for the Welsh Age Groups.

What was great to see was the amount of PB’s that were achieved, showcasing the tremendous development across the board for our Welsh Age Group lifters. However, standout performers included those who broke new Welsh Lifting Records, in which there were many. These included:

Welsh Age Group Championships 2026

• Rosie Richards – 27kg snatch and 60kg total (Girl’s Under 15’s, W40kg class)
• Poppy James – 53kg snatch, 70kg clean & jerk, 123kg total (Girl’s Under 15’s, W69kg class)
• Bethan Harry – 65kg snatch, 80kg clean & jerk, 145kg total (Girl’s Under 17’s, W53kg class)
• Bethan Harry – 65kg snatch, 80kg clean & jerk, 145kg total (Girl’s Under 17’s, W53kg class)
• Meg Gwyther – 100kg clean & jerk (Women’s Under 20’s, W53kg class)
• Isla Travers – 81kg snatch, 100kg clean & jerk, 181kg total (Women’s Under 20’s, W77kg class)
• Jac Esen – 87kg snatch, 110kg clean & jerk, 197kg total (Men’s Under 15’s, M88+kg class)
• Noah Ellson – 90kg snatch, 116kg clean & jerk, 206kg total (Men’s Under 20’s & Under 23’s, M60kg class)
• Luke Fletcher – 123kg snatch and 268kg total (Men’s Under 20’s, M94kg class)

Home Nations Open

• Charlotte Whalley – 87kg snatch, 103kg clean & jerk, 190kg total (Women’s Under 23’s, W63kg class)
• Chloe Hood – 108kg clean & jerk (Senior Women, W69kg class)
• Nicola Stiddard – 95kg snatch, 115kg clean & jerk, 210kg total (Senior Women, W86kg class)
• Sara Jones – 55kg best lift (Women’s Under 20’s, W61kg class – Para Powerlifting)
• James Wales – 187kg clean & jerk and 329kg total (Senior Men M110+kg class)

Simon Roach, Chief Operating Officer of Weightlifting Wales gave the following comments on our first national competition weekend of 2026:

“It was fantastic to see a record number of entries at the Welsh Age Group Championships this year, with strong representation and high entry numbers from clubs right across Wales. The atmosphere across the weekend was incredibly supportive and encouraging, with many athletes enjoying positive first championship experiences alongside some very strong performances.

We saw several Welsh records broken, which reflects the continued growth and standard of lifting across our pathways and clubs here in Wales.

The Home Nations Open also attracted a strong field, including a number of Welsh national squad athletes as part of the selection process for the European Seniors. It’s a Tier 2 national event and one of our flagship competitions, originally our Welsh Open, but as the quality and organisation of events in Wales has grown, we wanted a name that better reflects the wider opportunity, as an event open to lifters from across the Home Nations. It’s about providing a high-quality competition environment, showcasing the sport and bringing athletes from across the UK together to build a stronger weightlifting community.”

Also, hear from the Weightlifting Wales Head Coach on his thoughts from the two events:

“As head coach at weightlifting Wales it was extremely encouraging to see such a strong showing in the Welsh age groups and Home Nations Open last weekend. 

With a record number of entries this shows that our sport is moving forward at a grass roots level and that was also backed up with a number of very encouraging performances. 

This is testament to the hard work our club coaches are doing across the country developing young weightlifters, and the hard work and perseverance the lifters are also showing, dedicating themselves to their training and competition performance. 

Saturday highlights for me personally were watching the Girls u12 competition that saw a fantastic battle for Gold between Harper Thomas and Zuzanna Trojakova both girls displaying a great technical performance which saw for the first time ever in a Welsh U12 competition the two girls tie on points and only separated by total weight lifted. 

Charlie Ellis-Perry and Noah Ellson were two more lifters on the Saturday which really stood out with 6/6 performances and Welsh records across the board amongst multiple other lifters that performed to a fantastic standard breaking personal best lifts. 

Sunday brought in the Home Nations Open and it was fantastic to see a number of great performances there too, most notably Lotte Whalley with a PB total of 190kg and James Wales loading up the biggest weights of the weekend ending his snatch on 142kg and having the biggest clean and jerk attempt we have seen in Welsh competition for a good few years with a 192kg attempt.

Aside from this a return to competition from long term injury for lifters, Nikole Roberts and Madeline Connely was very encouraging to see. 

A well-run competition with interesting battles on the platform and between coaches in a friendly competition environment was great to experience for everyone. A fantastic weekends display of weightlifting on the whole.”

As athletes turn their focus to upcoming club competitions, international events and qualifying for British Championships/Commonwealth Games, we are already looking forward to the next Weightlifting Wales national event – the Home Nations Open (summer), which is take place across the weekend of the 6th and 7th June, in Llanelli.

Weightlifting Wales extends sincere thanks to all lifters, coaches, technical officials, volunteers, loaders, event staff, and spectators, for helping create such a successful event weekend. A big thank you also goes to the venue and Strength Academy Wales for helping provide such an outstanding facility to host our events, as well many of their venue team offering their services to help with setup and take down of the competition areas. 

The full list of competition results can be found on the uploaded scoresheets from the Weightlifting Wales website. Link to this below:

competition results

A reminder that all athletes can purchase photo and video packages of their lifts (around 50 photos per lift) via our media partner, Grip and Rip. These packages can be accessed through the link below:

https://www.gripandrip.co.uk/products/welsh-age-groups-home-nations-open

Celebrating Support from The National Lottery & Welsh Government

Weightlifting Wales is a proud recipient of National Lottery and Welsh Government funding, which plays a vital role in helping us be able to deliver our national competition weekends.

For over 30 years, The National Lottery has been a game changer for Welsh sport – funding elite athletes, supporting grassroots clubs, and investing in world-class facilities. This continued investment allows us to provide opportunities for people of all ages and abilities, from community programmes to international pathways.

Thanks to this public investment, we can support more lifters, coaches, and volunteers, and create inclusive environments where strength brings people together.

You can find out more about how National Lottery players are making amazing things happen across the UK by visiting www.lotterygoodcauses.org.uk.