Amanda Monaghan has gone from Bishopbriggs Academy to the world powerlifting title

A former Bishopbriggs Academy pupil has become world powerlifting champion - in what was only her third ever competition.
World powerlifting champion and former Bishopbriggs Academy pupil Amanda MonaghanWorld powerlifting champion and former Bishopbriggs Academy pupil Amanda Monaghan
World powerlifting champion and former Bishopbriggs Academy pupil Amanda Monaghan

Amanda Monaghan won the junior 47.5 kilo title at the WDFPF (World Drug Free Powerlifting Federation) Championships held in Glasgow’s Craigholme School.

And not only did the 23-year-old lift the global crown, she also smashed four world records on the way by setting new marks for the three various lift disciplines - squat, bench press and deadlift - plus a new overall total.

Incredibly Amanda only took up the sport 15 months ago.

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She explained: “It was the through the gym that I work in, Pro-Life Fitness Centre in Paisley.

“I was training there and a few people were saying I was holding a considerable amount of strength for my height and weight.

“They said that I should look into doing powerlifting, so I just gave the competition a try.”

Prior the worlds Amanda had only ever taken part in two competitions before, the Scottish Championships and the British - and won both of them.

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She said: “I did well at the British and at the Worlds I just wanted to beat the previous world records. I managed to do the squat and the deadlift at the British, but missed out on the bench press.

“That’s what I was determined to get at the Worlds and ended up getting all three of them.”

It’s been a rapid rise for Amanda, who works at Pro-Life but does her personal training at the Paisley Barbell Club - and she’s now looking forward to even greater challenges by stepping up to the senior ranks.

She said: “Because I am 23 this is my last year as a junior so I’ll be going into the seniors and the records there will be higher.

“But first of all I’ve got the Scottish championships on Sunday [December 2] at the Elysium Gym in Edinburgh and that’s my last competition as a junior.”