In the lead-up to the Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games, Scottish Disability Sport is delighted to provide an overview of the sports that Scottish Para athletes are competing in as part of Team Scotland. In the first of the series of sports, we highlight the sport of powerlifting and Micky Yule.
The ultimate test of power and strength, Powerlifting is all about how much an athlete can lift in the bench press related to their own bodyweight. It is open to all athletes with any impairment. The sport is adapted from non-disabled powerlifting, concentrating solely on the bench-press movement. The key aspect of the sport is simple, the person who lifts the most weight within their body weight category on the day of competition is deemed the winner.
The Gold Coast 2018 Commonwealth Games will see Musselburgh’s Micky Yule compete in the S750 Men’s Heavyweight (over 72kg) class on Tuesday 10th April at the Carrara Sports and Leisure Centre.
Micky Yule
Micky served in the Scots Royal Engineers, when in 2010 he was injured by an improvised explosive device. He had already competed with the army powerlifting team for three years and after a year out to recover from his injuries, he returned to training.
He was the first Scot to compete at a Commonwealth Games in powerlifting, finishing 4th at Glasgow 2014. He was also the first British athlete to win gold at the Invictus Games, taking titles in both 2014 and 2016. He holds the British bench press record at 195kg.
- Represented Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in 2014 finishing in 4th place in the Men’s Heavyweight category.
- Gold medal in the up to 80Kg weight class at the 2015 IPC Powerlifting European Championships in Eger, Hungary.
- Gold medal in the Men’s Lightweight competition at the 2016 Invictus Games in Orlando, Florida.
- 6th place finish in the -65kg class at the 2016 Summer Paralympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
- 1st place finish in the Heavyweight class at the 2017 IPC British Championships.
Micky’s athlete profile can be viewed here.
For a schedule of powerlifting events at the Gold Coast Games, please follow the link: https://www.gc2018.com/sport/para-powerlifting
Scottish Disability Sport has produced a factsheet on powerlifting for people with a disability which can be downloaded here.
Tomorrow
Please return tomorrow for all the information relating to the sport of paratriathlon, with Scotland’s Karen Darke competing as part of Team Scotland at Gold Coast.