Age 18
Sport Powerlifting
Club Wood Green Weightlifting Club
Achievements so far Ali, who was born in the Lebanon and lives in Tottenham, has won the British Championships three times.
He’s the British and European junior record holder, having lifted a staggering 165kg, and is ranked second in the world at the under-23 level. He won
gold in his category at this year’s European Junior Championships and, remarkably, also finished fourth in the seniors
Ali Jawad: “‘After my GCSEs two years ago, some friends encouraged me to go to the gym across the road from my school.
I was competing at international level in judo but I never thought I was particularly strong.
Then I started bench pressing and the guy who ran the club thought I had potential. There’s no judo category for my disability in the Paralympics – I was born without legs – so I decided to concentrate on power lifting instead.
At present I’m training five times a week. I’ve increased everything, from running to weights. It doesn’t leave me much time for a social life, but I am absolutely committed to this sport so I don’t mind too much. It helps that my friends and family are proud of me – they have all my newspaper
cuttings! And these days local people recognize me in the street which is nice. ‘Next year, I will be representing the under-23s and I’ll have to step up my training. There’s a possibility I could compete in the Beijing Olympics, but that depends on how I’m performing.
‘The training is tiring. I have to keep my energy up by eating a lot. After every session I have a milkshake and also eat loads of pasta and rice.
‘What I’ve noticed is that the Olympics is already making an impact. The Mile End track has been refurbished and has put on more events for local children, and a lot of more children have joined the athletics club.
‘There has been a lot of controversy about the cost of the Olympics, but I’m still excited about it. I want to be there and am working towards that – I even liked the logo.’
‘I’ve just finished A levels in English, psychology and PE, and I’m hoping to study sports science at London Metropolitan University. But I’m on the verge of qualifying for next year’s Beijing Olympics so I’ll take a gap year and devote it to training then go to uni afterwards. At the moment I train three-four hours a day, six days a week. I get good advice on things like nutrition from my own coach and also from people who work with the GB
squad.
‘I get some help from the new Haringey Council Sports Scholarship Scheme but I need more international experience before I can receive World Class funding. Soon I’ll be flying out to China for a training camp and competition. When I first started, no-one expected me to get anywhere near Beijing. They said I should aim for 2012.
But I’ve made pretty rapid progress already, so why not?’
Source: Time Out Weekly newsletter
