Aeryn-Ejjina Atkinson won first place in the silver dollar deadlift at a national weightlifting contest in Gloucester on Sunday. At the competition – which was her first ever - she heaved a 96-kilo barbell off the floor, using a semi-squatting motion similar to a dead lift, beating all other six contestants because the barbell was three times her body weight.
The challenge is called the silver dollar lift because it used to be undertaken with two buckets of silver dollar coins on the ends of a metal bar.
Aeryn, who is just four foot six and was the lightest person in the competition, also achieved a personal best with a 22.5kg log press- lifting weights off her shoulders straight above her head.
She also carried a 65kg barbell across the back of her shoulders, lugging it a full 15 metres in 32 seconds, to come fifth in an event called the yolk walk.
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Aeryn, from Telford, Shropshire, said: “I feel proud and I am excited for my next competition.
“I dream of being in the Olympics, but I didn’t think I would be doing this at age 10. I wasn’t expecting to get into strong woman, but once I saw it, I knew it was my thing."
The Olympic hopeful trains twice a day in a bid to be just like her hero Dwayne ‘The Rock’ Johnson.
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Aeryn and got into lifting after watching her dad, Craig, 40, train and seeing the sport on TV. Although, her parents were initially hesitant to let her start lifting weights.
Determined, at the age of seven she built herself a barbell out of Lego and her parents eventually gave in and found her a proper instructor.
Now, she does at least two hours training a day, starting at 5am while her parents and brother Jovan, 11, are asleep, with a second session after her homework is done.