RECORD-BREAKING grandmother Dawn Morrell hopes her stunning powerlifting debut can be the springboard to success on the world stage next year.

The Devizes mother of four, who has just turned 50, set her sights on appearances at global and European championships in 2011 after setting new standards at a British event in Swansea.

Morrell broke the women’s British record in the 67.5 kg Masters (45 and over) category for both the Deadlift (lifting a bar with weights off the floor) and Bench Press (lying flat), with 140kgs and 77.5kgs respectively at the British Open Record Breakers Championship in Wales.

The Bath Road lifter only took up the sport in the last couple of years after originally starting gym work in a bid to lose weight.

But her exploits have already earned her an invitation to the British Powerlifting Organisation (BPO) national championships in Bath next April, with the European and world event in Limerick, Ireland, and Florida on the horizon.

Morrell, who works for Zurich in Swindon and trains under the guidance of Rupert Jenkins at Route 2 Fitness gym in Hopton Road, shrugged off a bicep injury and displaced ribs to compete in Swansea and said: “It started a couple of years ago when I started doing some general fitness training.

“I didn’t like the cardio side of it so much, but I liked doing weights. Somebody saw the weights I was lifting and said to me if I realised how strong I was.

“I was really happy with how it went in Swansea. The injury restricted my lifting power a bit, but it was nice to break the record.

“I’ve been invited to the British Championships in Bath and I would like to go on to the European and world championships because I know, with the weights that I can lift, that I can do well there and I hope to break the world record.’’

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