Image Credit: [Belal Ahmed]
Having won the Sports Colours Award for high sporting performance earlier this year, the captain of Leeds Powerlifting and Weightlifting Society, Kieran Gray continues to take the podium for his incredible strength.
From a newbie gym-goer at the age of 17, to a National Champion and an International competitor in less than 5 years, Gray’s lifts total to over three-quarters of a tonne and he competes weighing under a humble 120kg body of muscle. His current trajectory puts him on the road to breaking world records.
Kieran, 22, captains Leeds Powerlifting and Weightlifting Society, which was founded only three years ago. He won his most recent competition at the British Junior Championships, held by the GB Powerlifting Federation last weekend. Kieran managed to squat 305kg, bench-press 210kg and deadlift 320kg, at a shy 118kg, leaving him with a whopping total of 835kg. His final deadlift attempt at 333kg would have given him another two British records, just to add to his collection.
He currently holds the British bench-press record and 11 Yorkshire and North East (YNE) records.
However, aside from chasing national records, Kieran hopes to bring home goal in the European Championships in November.
Next year, Kieran will compete internationally where he will attempt to take the World Record total of 890kg at 120kg bodyweight. Placing 5th in the world at the beginning of this year, he intends to go further and challenge Tony Cliffe, who is “one of GB’s best lifters of all time.”
Gray is seeking to collect as many records as possible before he moves up to the ‘senior’ class of lifters aged 24-39.
As captain, Gray has spearheaded Leeds Powerlifting and Weightlifting society to great success, with the club winning numerous regional records in recent years. The club has collectively won the Northern Universities Championships two years in a row, and the next step is the British Universities Championships, where the club hopes to “show everyone that we’re the strongest team in the country”.
Belal Ahmed