Paramedic going for Gold!

Meet Hannah Beaumont, a paramedic in Manchester who has her eyes on Olympic glory. She is one of the top female weight lifters in the country.

Hannah began competing four years ago; the former gym owner had excelled in Olympic weightlifting after discovering CrossFit, so she decided to specialise in the discipline. Her day job is part of the Hazardous Area Response Team (HART), where she has been stationed in Manchester for the last three years. “It’s a job I’m made for,” she says, “There are extra physical demands involved in the role that I really enjoy.”

“Within two years of starting weightlifting, I had broken the British record in my weight class. While it has been overtaken by someone else since then, at the time, it came as a big shock that I was performing at such a high level. I was giving the best in the country a run for their money. I’m always very hard on myself, but this gave me the belief that I was good at it, so the confidence boost was major.”

While a place at the Olympics has always been the dream for Hannah, lockdown caused the halt of competitions, meaning she couldn’t establish herself in the GB squad in time for this year’s Games in Tokyo.

“Lockdown has been very difficult to continue my dream, not in the least to find somewhere to train because everywhere was closed.”

“In the HART site, we have a gym which I used to keep up my general fitness at work, but it doesn’t have the weightlifting equipment I need to train properly. You realise how much strength you lose when you’re not doing the Olympic lifts. I even built my own lifting platform in my garden last year to give me somewhere to practice because I missed it so much.

“I have found that the gym and fitness work is a great support to my mental health over the years. Recently I had to attend a fatal RTC, which had a big effect on me. But training on my days off with my friends and doing what I love helps take my mind off it. It’s like my therapy!

“Thankfully, I am getting back into it properly, and I’m hoping to start competing again in June. The Olympics is still the dream and I have three years to train hard and prove myself again.”