Emily Campbell (born 6 May 1994) is a British weightlifter, the most successful British weightlifter of modern times.[2] She is a Commonwealth and four-time European champion, and a double World and Olympic medalist.

Emily Campbell
Personal information
NationalityBritish
Born (1994-05-06) 6 May 1994 (age 30)
Nottingham, England
Home townNottingham, England
Alma materLeeds Beckett University
Height1.765 m (5 ft 9 in)[1]
Weight112 kg (247 lb)[1]
Sport
SportWeightlifting
ClubAtlas Weightlifting Club
Coached byCyril Martin
Medal record
Women's weightlifting
Representing  Great Britain
Olympic Games
Silver medal – second place 2020 Tokyo +87 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2024 Paris +81 kg
World Championships
Silver medal – second place 2022 Bogota +87 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2021 Tashkent +87 kg
European Championships
Gold medal – first place 2021 Moscow +87 kg
Gold medal – first place 2022 Tirana +87 kg
Gold medal – first place 2023 Yerevan +87 kg
Gold medal – first place 2024 Sofia +87 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2019 Batumi +87 kg
European U23 Championships
Silver medal – second place 2017 Durrës +87 kg
Representing  England
Commonwealth Games
Gold medal – first place 2022 Birmingham +87 kg
Bronze medal – third place 2018 Gold Coast +90 kg

In 2021, competing in the +87 kg category, Campbell became both European champion, and the first British woman to win an Olympic medal in the sport, with silver at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo. In 2022 she retained her European title, won the Gold medal at her home Commonwealth Games in a new Commonwealth Games record, and upgraded her 2021 World Championships bronze medal to a silver in Bogota.

In 2023, Campbell confirmed a hat-trick of three successive European titles, before in 2024 recreating her 2021 success, winning her fourth consecutive European title and her second Olympic medal, a bronze in the +81 kg category at the 2024 Summer Olympics in Paris.

Biography

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Campbell is from the Snape Wood estate in Bulwell, Nottinghamshire.[3] She graduated from Leeds Beckett University with a Sports Science degree in 2016.[4]

Campbell competed in the women's +90 kg event at the 2018 Commonwealth Games, winning the bronze medal.[5][6] In the following year she came third in the 2019 European Championships gaining another bronze medal. In early 2021 she became the European champion after winning in Moscow in the +87 kg category.[7]

At the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo (held in 2021 due to the COVID-19 pandemic), Campbell became the first British female weightlifter to win a medal at the Olympics, with a silver in the women's +87 kg event.[8][9][10] Later that year, she went on to earn a bronze medal at the World Championships in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.[11][12]

She won the gold medal in her event at the 2022 European Weightlifting Championships held in Tirana, Albania and retained her title, with a somewhat reduced lift, in 2023 in Yerevan, Armenia.[13][14]

The British Olympic Association chose Campbell as Team GB's only weightlifter at the 2024 Paris Olympics in the +81 kg category.[15] At the Games she won a bronze medal setting a new combined personal best of 288 kg in the process.[16][17]

Achievements

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Year Venue Weight Snatch (kg) Clean & Jerk (kg) Total Rank
1 2 3 Rank 1 2 3 Rank
Olympic Games
2020 Tokyo, Japan +87 kg 118 122 122 150 156 161 283  
2024 Paris, France +81 kg 119 123 126 162 169 174 288  
World Championships
2018 Ashgabat, Turkmenistan +87 kg 104 108 111 12 136 140 143 13 248 14
2019 Pattaya, Thailand +87 kg 114 118 118 13 145 149 153 9 267 9
2021 Tashkent, Uzbekistan +87 kg 115 118 121   155 157 162   278  
2022 Bogotá, Colombia +87 kg 119 122 125 5 157 161 165   287  
European Championships
2019 Batumi, Georgia +87 kg 108 112 115   140 145 150   260  
2021 Moscow, Russia +87 kg 115 117 122   145 150 154   276  
2022 Tirana, Albania +87 kg 110 114 118   142 148 153   271  
2023 Yerevan, Armenia +87 kg 110 110 110 4 136 143   253  
2024 Sofia, Bulgaria +87 kg 112 116 116   146 151   263  

References

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  1. ^ a b "Emily Campbell – Weightlifting". teamengland.org. Commonwealth Games England. Retrieved 16 August 2021.
  2. ^ "Emily Campbell". Gold Coast 2018. Archived from the original on 12 April 2018. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  3. ^ Thirkill, Stephen (2 August 2021). "Bulwell's Emily Campbell wins Olympic silver medal". Hucknall Dispatch. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  4. ^ Blackall, Molly; Walker, Amy (7 August 2021). "Tokyo Olympics: How two UK universities produced dozens of Team GB stars – and trained them over FaceTime". inews. Retrieved 7 August 2021.
  5. ^ "Feagaiga Stowers secures Samoa's second gold medal". Samoa Observer. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  6. ^ "Event Schedule - Women's +90kg". Gold Coast 2018. Archived from the original on 2 February 2023. Retrieved 11 April 2018.
  7. ^ Moore, Joel (1 August 2021). "Family of Bulwell's Olympic weightlifting star are 'so proud'". NottinghamshireLive. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  8. ^ "Tokyo Olympics: Emily Campbell becomes first British female weightlifter to win Olympic medal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 2 July 2021.
  9. ^ Oliver, Brian (2 August 2021). "Unstoppable weightlifter Li wins again as Britain's Campbell ends 37-year medal wait". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  10. ^ "Women's +87 kg Results" (PDF). Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2 August 2021. Retrieved 2 August 2021.
  11. ^ "Emily Campbell: British weightlifter adds world bronze to Olympic silver and Euro gold". BBC Sport. 17 December 2021. Retrieved 24 December 2021.
  12. ^ Oliver, Brian (17 December 2021). "Stunning sweep of weightlifting world records for Lasha - and another medal for Britain". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 18 December 2021.
  13. ^ Oliver, Brian (5 June 2022). "Landmark golds for Britain's Campbell and Norway's Koanda at European Weightlifting Championships". InsideTheGames.biz. Retrieved 5 June 2022.
  14. ^ "2022 European Weightlifting Championships Results Book" (PDF). European Weightlifting Federation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 6 June 2022. Retrieved 6 June 2022.
  15. ^ Hinds, Rodney (July 2024). "Emily in Paris: Campbell is GB's sole weightlifter". The Voice. p. 47.
  16. ^ "Campbell wins final GB medal of Paris Olympics". BBC Sport. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
  17. ^ "Emily Campbell launches cartwheel celebration after bagging Olympic bronze". The Independent. Retrieved 11 August 2024.
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