WEIGHTLIFTING: London 2012 Olympian Zoe Smith competed in the Women’s 63kg competition at St Ignatius College in Riverview on Friday.

The 18-year-old displayed a strong performance, lifting her best snatch of 88kg and clean and jerk of 112kg. She finished with a total of 200kg, winning silver after China’s Wei Deng claimed gold with an incredible 235kg total.

“It was a fantastic event,” Smith said. “I gave it my all and I’m really happy with my performance.”

Smith holds the British clean and jerk record of 121kg, after breaking the previous record of 199kg at the London 2012 Olympics.

“It felt awesome to break the record.”

Being her first trip to Australia, Smith said she didn’t want to return back to the United Kingdom.

“I love Australia. It’s so nice, warm and pretty,” she said.

Australian Rachel Goodman, who snatched bronze in the 63kg event, said it was amazing to have competed alongside Smith.

“I watched her last year on TV during the [London] Olympics,” Goodman said. “To meet her in person and chat to her was awesome. She’s really inspiring.”

Spectator Tim Wells said that Smith brought a great vibe to the event.

“She really knows how to get a crowd hyped and excited. A real pleasure to watch.”

Smith said she was impressed with the Australian weightlifting talent on display.

“For a young team, there is great potential,” she said. “I can definitely see Australian weightlifters at the next Commonwealth and Olympics Games.”

You can follow Zoe Smith on Twitter: @ZoePabloSmith

Mohamed Taha
Olympics.com.au

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