A WEIGHTLIFTER from Abbey Wood has won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.

Zoe Smith, 14, is the youngest member of Team England competing at the event and put up her best ever performance on her way to winning gold in the women’s 53kg category.

The Townley Grammar School pupil, who has only been weightlifting for two years and is trained by Andrew Callard at the Europa Weightlifting Club in Erith, lifted 72kg in the first element of the competition, the snatch, an improvement of five kilograms on her personal best and a new Commonwealth Youth and British senior record.

This lift gave her the lead at the halfway stage but her first attempt in the clean and jerk, with the bar at 82kg, was a failure as she lost her balance and fell backwards.

Showing all her determination and maturity beyond her years, Smith regained her composure and clinched the gold medal with a lift of 87kg, which her nearest rival from India failed twice to match.

When she realised she had won, the former gymnast celebrated with a back somersault to the delight of the crowd.

She said: “It feels amazing. I could have done better, but it’s my best international performance and I owe it all to my coaches.

“I’m overwhelmed and can’t really believe I did it.”

Smith admitted her first failure in the clean and jerk had been a nervous moment.

She explained: “I’ve never missed a clean before and I just started thinking: “Will I get it next time and am I going to get a total?”

“I just tried to stay positive and my coach Sam and team manager Maggie were amazing and really gave me confidence.

“This medal means more to me than anything in the world and I’m just so happy.”

Meanwhile, 17-year-old Jack Oliver from Bexley was also part of the Team England squad and finished fifth in the 69kg category on Wednesday.