Young Holyhead powerlifter Lucas Williams has world championship success in his sights

Friends and family of a young sportsman from Holyhead will be bursting with anticipation when he competes in the 2023 World Junior Powerlifting Championships in Romania next week.

Lucas Williams, 18, is already a Welsh and British champion and will be aiming to add a world title to his CV when he takes on the globe’s best in Cluj Napoca.

The Holy Islander will be part of a 32-strong Great Britain squad of sub-junior (age 14-18) and junior (age 18-23) competitors.

A total of 655 athletes representing 55 countries are on the roster.

Every session will be streamed live and for free on the International Powerlifting Federation YouTube channel and on their Facebook page.

Lucas will travel to Romania as the Welsh and British sub-junior powerlifting champion.

He won the GB title in Solihull on April 29, breaking the squat record with a lift of 235 kgs, then smashed the deadlift best by 30 kgs with a lift of 282.5 kgs.

That form convinced the GB selectors to include him in the squad for the worlds.

Powerlifting is a different sport to weightlifting, in which Holyhead has produced two Commonwealth Games gold medallists in Ray Williams and Gareth Evans.

Lucas, who works at the Muscle Locker sports nutrition shop on Holyhead’s Penrhos Industrial Estate, actually trains himself.

“I started off watching instructional videos on Instagram and gradually got better and better,” he said.

“I noticed when I started going to the gym about two years ago that I was a lot stronger than other people, so I decided to give powerlifting a try.”

Lucas has been competing for about a year and training for around 18 months.

The powerlifting competition involves three disciplines – squat, bench and deadlift. The competitor with the most accumulated points wins the tournament.

“The standard will be very high with it being a world championship, but I believe I can pick up a medal,” added Lucas. “It’s a real honour to be competing.”

After rising the rankings through his successes in regional competitions, Lucas moved on to the GB championships and the points he gathered there sealed his worlds spot.

Lucas hopes to do Holyhead proud in Romania.

Speaking about the achievements of Ray Williams and Gareth Evans, he said: “I think it’s great for Holyhead what they’ve done.

“They are not particularly inspirations of mine, but I admire what they’ve achieved.

“It’s good for a town the size of Holyhead with not too many people to have someone competing in a world championship. I don’t think it’s happened too often.”

Eight years ago, Ffion Ankers of Four Mile Bridge, Anglesey, won gold at the 2015 WDFPF World Single Lift Championships in Telford.

In the Raw category, she won the British title in February before setting a global best in the deadlift at the worlds four months later.

So, Ynys Môn and strength-based sports certainly share a special relationship.

Hopefully, Lucas Williams is set to become the island’s latest major success story.

For details on how to access the World Junior Powerlifting Championships, which start on August 24, follow this link
https://barbend.com/how-to-watch-2023-ipf-junior-world-powerlifting-championships/