Congratulations to Lower Sixth student Hannah Karpal who recently represented Great Britain at the European Powerlifting Championships in Poland and placed 6th overall in her category, a fantastic achievement!
Hannah has only been powerlifting since January 2022 and has already competed in the World Powerlifting Championships in Turkey last September, as well as the European Championships in December. Hannah says, “Having the experience from Turkey prepared me well for dealing with nerves for the European Championships where I really enjoyed meeting athletes and coaches from around Europe, as well as the competition itself. It was very memorable competing on an international stage where everything is taken extremely seriously.”
Hannah’s family inspired her to try powerlifting as her dad used to weightlift competitively, her brothers enjoy the sport and some of their friends also compete. Hannah says, “After initially trying out some strength exercises during lockdown at our home gym, I later decided to try powerlifting after speaking with my brothers’ friends and researching online. Due to their experience, my brothers can coach and support me and as soon as I started, I really enjoyed it and have been training ever since.”
Hannah trains at home and takes advantage of the Strength and Conditioning Suite at Trinity. She is also involved in a variety of the sports at Trinity, having represented the school with the 1st XI Hockey team last term, played in the first ever girls’ football match and attends netball, cricket and rugby training.
On powerlifting, Hannah says, “I enjoy feeling strong when lifting heavy and seeing improvements as I train regularly. The feeling of achieving a goal after having put hard work into training for long periods of time is very rewarding. Having more strength helps in other sports too – I can run faster, hit the ball harder, and have stronger passing.”
Hannah will continue training hard and preparing for the next national competition which will take place towards the end of April. She is hoping to perform well enough to be selected to represent Great Britain at the World and European Championships again later this year. We wish her every success in her sport.
“This is a fantastic achievement, and demonstrates grit and determination, especially so early in her powerlifting career. As is tradition, Hannah will join the roll call of students who have represented their country in sport, with her name on the plaque in the Pavilion. Congratulations.”
Mr Kench, Director of Sport at Trinity
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