The nine-day trip marked the set-up’s first overseas visit and combined a training camp with a contest featuring some of the host nation’s finest athletes, including those who compete on the world stage.
Among those to impress were WO1 James Hopkins (Rifles), who finished second in the under-120kg ranks, women’s under-84kg champion SSgt Sara Braham (RLC) and LCpl Tom Beall (RE), a winner in his individual category and third in the overall standings.
Hopkins is also the team’s admin and events OiC and believes the tour offered valuable experience for the 23 personnel involved.
“It was a great opportunity to get away in one location for some collective training,” he told SoldierSport.
“A lot of medals were won across the board. Even though this is quite an individual sport, it was brilliant to have such a large number of athletes from the UK involved.”
With the first trip now complete, Hopkins hopes it can serve to highlight the pathway that is in place for those wanting to get involved.
“It goes from unit or station to corps and army level, followed by competing at the Inter-Services and then representing UKAF,” he continued. “There is a clear progression.
“We have a memorandum of understanding with Cyprus and are now looking at a possible North American trip in 2026. Powerlifting is really taking off.”
The Army Winter Championships – open to personnel of all experience levels – will be held on December 9 and 10 at Minley. Follow @army_powerlifting_union on Instagram for details.
