A DOSE of the sniffles did not prevent Charlie Shotton-Gale from finishing fifth at the World Powerlifting Championships in Norway.

Coming up against the world’s top lifters brought the best out of Swindon’s four-time British champion, who improved her world ranking from seventh.

Naturally the personal trainer, who gained an international personal best of 202.5k in the squats, was delighted to meet her pre-event target.

“My goal was to reach fifth in the world and I’m absolutely thrilled to have achieved that, despite competing with a cold,” said Shotton-Gale.

In addition to her squats PB, Shotton-Gale also totalled 185k in the deadlift and 122.5k in the bench press, not far off the British records that she plans to break next year.

The Swindonian, currently studying strength and conditioning at St. Mary’s University College, is now training hard for the equipped European Championships in Bulgaria in May.

That competition will be swiftly followed by the unequipped World Championships in South Africa in June, with the equipped World Championships taking place in the Unites States in November.

Sponsored by her SG Fitness company, Swindon-based Mike McGuire Family Butcher and Lyneham-based Princess Homecare, Shotton-Gale is seeking further backing in order to get to next year’s equipped European Championships.

Shotton-Gale has trained world record holder and European champion Dawn Morrell, a fellow Swindonian.