SARAH DAVIES
It’s late on Monday evening in London and the temperature has dropped to just above freezing. But Sarah Davies is hot. An hour of intensive strength training has upped her body temperature and she radiates heat as she undoes her weight lifting wraps.
Her fingers look delicate as she unravels the material, completely out of place in the hard environment around her. But the British Weightlifting Champion is all about smashing perceptions, and breaks them as often as she breaks personal bests.
In addition to her sporting titles – 6th in the 2017 World Championships, European Champion in 2015, a bronze at the 2017 Commonwealth Games – she was also crowned Miss Leeds in 2012. “I realised I could use that platform to promote healthy body image and women in sport,” she says. Now 25, Sarah has since become a loud voice in the controversial conversation around feminine beauty.
To many people in her past, she didn’t fulfil those ideals. Winning a traditional beauty contest – the kind that would usually focus on being slim over big muscles – was a significant moment not only for her, but for athletic women across the UK. On that stage, Sarah stood out from the crowd.
But she doesn’t see her win as a victory for athletic women over slim women. “It’s not even a case of muscles being better than skinny. It’s a case of celebrating everyone for who they are.” She looks around her at the other people in the gym in admiration. “If I can even show just one girl who is like the person I was, someone stopping something like gymnastics at school because they’re bullied for being muscly, then I’ve achieved something.”
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Quitting gymnastics was a low point for Sarah. It’s something she regrets still. But that low created the platform that would raise her up to her career heights today. “I wanted to try something new. My boyfriend Jack, who had been weightlifting for a very long time, encouraged me to try it,” she says. “I completely fell in love with the sport from there.” The rest is history with her name etched into trophies and medals.
In today’s Instagram-filtered world, body image couldn’t be a worthier focus for a role model like Sarah. With the playground cruelty behind her, she’s now a walking, talking example of how the ‘lifting makes you manly’ stereotype is nonsense. She’s strong and powerful, with an athletic body. But she’s also petite with a soft featured face. Her goal is to show young women how important it is to celebrate all body types.
With the appeal of women’s weight lifting growing, people are certainly starting to listen. In fact, there are now more women competing at the national championships than men. “When I started weight lifting, you could turn up to a championship and be on the podium because there were only three people there,” she laughs. “Now it’s really competitive.”
Despite the increase in popularity, UK Sport has stopped funding professional weight lifting, leaving athletes like Sarah unable to remain full-time. But she has a business brain to flex along with the muscles. With her boyfriend Jack, she has set up a coaching company and trains other athletes. “It pays the bills. I’m not living the life of luxury driving around in a fancy car. But I only get this weightlifting opportunity when I’m young. So I’m doing it now.”
So what’s next for Sarah? More discussions about beauty, and definitely more beastings in the gym. Her weightlifting business is growing and she’s training hard in preparation for the Commonwealth Games this April. Then there’s the 2020 Olympics on the horizon.
Until then, you’ll find her promoting curves and athletics and self-acceptance. When asked what being a female means to her she said: “To me, it’s all about living your real life, and not conforming to what you believe to be real life.” It’s that ‘stay true to yourself’ mindset that’s come with age and experience. She hopes she can pass it on to the generation growing up behind her; a generation that comes in all shapes and sizes.
Her final piece of advice comes from wondering if things might have been different if her athletic tendencies had been embraced instead of bullied. “Don’t listen to other people. If you enjoy it, do it,” she says. “My life would have been significantly different if I’d heard that advice. It’s strange how life takes its course, but I am happy with where it’s gone.”
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Follow Sarah's Olympic journey on Instagram here!
SISTERHOOD meets professional weightlifter Sarah Davies, a muscular athlete changing the face of feminine beauty
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Sarah Davies in preparation training for the Commonwealth games in Australia this April, photography: Seren Jones, London February 2018