A TEENAGER from Bournemouth didn’t realise her own strength until she was chosen to represent Great Britain in a powerlifting competition.

Jaime Lei Fuller was encouraged to compete in the sport by a coach at her school, LeAF Studio. The 15-year-old qualified in a national competition in November and will now be representing Great Britain in the World Classic Powerlifting Championships in Canada in June.

With three types of lift to perform, Jaime Lei will aim to beat her personal bests. Weighing just under 50kg herself, she can already deadlift an impressive 85kg, squat 77kg and bench press 50kg. She broke the record for a sub-junior bench press at the national championships in Scotland in November.

She said she felt proud to be competing in the world championships after only taking up powerlifting in February last year.

“My family were quite shocked and proud as well,” she said.

“I got into powerlifting when my conditioning coach at school asked if I wanted to try it out. He saw the power when I lifted weights so I joined the Bournemouth Barbell club and went every Wednesday after school.

“I was invited to a squad day in March, and two weeks ago I received an email from British Powerlifting telling me I’d got a place on the team with four other girls.”

Jaime Lei now trains for an hour twice a week with her coach, Sophie Walker.

“The bench press is my favourite lift as I just feel like I’m stronger when I’m doing it,” she said.

“I love the feeling when I set a new personal best.”

Her mum, Sharon, said the whole family was supportive of Jaime Lei.

“We’re so proud of what she’s achieved,” she said.

She added that a fundraising page had been set up to help raise £2,000 to get Jaime Lei to the world championships.

“It’s all entirely self-funded as there’s no funding provided by British Powerlifting. If anybody would like to donate to help Jaime Lei with the cost of flights and hotels, please visit the JustGiving page at justgiving.com/crowdfunding/jaimeleifuller,” she said.