Colchester powerlifter Gracie Besant aiming to compete abroad

The same cannot be said of Colchester powerlifter Gracie Besant, who instead spends the evening completing three punishing training sessions as part of a packed schedule – one which has seen her add to her growing medal haul with seemingly every competition.

On a Friday night, she negotiates a weights session at Anytime Fitness, before heading for a powerlifting workout at Energyze Gym. A a jiu-jitsu session at BKK Fighters rounds off the week before she allows herself a rare and welcome rest on Saturday morning.

And that’s just a Friday – the Manningtree High School pupil somehow manages to dedicate time and energy to rugby, where she plays inside centre for Ipswich Athenas, as well as boxing.

It started rather simply – Gracie was at the gym, and found herself rather impressed by the exertions of those who are now her weightlifting coaches and teammates.

After trying bench presses, squats and deadlifts herself, Mick Amey, now her coach, asked if he could show Gracie how to lift properly – and since then she has gone from strength to strength...literally.

Now, Gracie has set her sights on competing on the national and international stage.

She said: “I definitely want to take the sport far – hopefully I will get an opportunity to travel to different countries to compete.

“I think that would be amazing – that’s the main goal.”

Number one – Gracie is adding to her medal haul in a varity of sports

Her parents, Jo and Sacha Besant, act as the taxi drivers to all of Gracie’s training sessions and competitions – her dad negotiates the long-haul journeys to venues further afield, whilst her mum ferries her to gyms across Colchester.

“Mum does shorter distance driving and dad does all the long-distance driving,” she explained.

“If I do well at a competition, I get to celebrate by picking a restaurant and we get to go there for a meal.

“I have to make a certain weight for competitions, but after a comp I can have a nice massive meal, which is always good.”

Nando’s, Tim Hortons, Play House, and Taco Bell tend to be the restaurants of choice after a competition win – and although mum Jo is proud of her daughter’s commitment and success, she jokes that the sporty gene may skip a generation.

Support – Gracie credits her coaches and teammates for her improvements

She said: “I don’t have a sporty background at all – I’m more a sports watcher than a doer.

“It’s the same with her dad – I’m not sure where the sporty gene comes from,” she said,.

Regardless of the sports gene’s derivatives, what is certain is Gracie has got it and she will be looking to do her parents and coaches proud when she competes at the British National Bench Press Championships in Dover later this month.

Gracie is hoping her personal bests – which stand at 52.5kg for bench, 100kg for squat, and 137.5kg for dead lift – will stand her in good stead.

Her mum says the sport gives people a better perspective of what female athletes are capable of.

“Rugby and powerlifting are very niche sports for girls to play, so girls can show people that they can do a lot more than people think,” she said.

Gracie added: “Sport has really helped with self-confidence and socialising – I’ve got a big group of friends and it’s like having lots of mini families.”