East India Quay resident wins bronze in the +75kg category to add to her European Junior gold medal from October 2015

East London Advertiser: Mercy Brown, of the University of East London, faces the camera (pic: UEL).Mercy Brown, of the University of East London, faces the camera (pic: UEL). (Image: Archant)

University of East London student Mercy Brown showed her amazing strength by smashing three British records and winning a bronze medal in the +75kg category at the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia.

The 20-year-old, who has just completed the second year of her Sport and Exercise Science degree, lifted lifetime bests of 105kg in the snatch and 131kg in the clean and jerk for a combined total of 236kg – giving her a hat-trick of British records.

Her super-charged performance also earned a bronze medal behind Thailand’s Duangaksom Chaidee and Georgia’s Anastasiia Hotfrid adding to the European junior gold she won in October.

Brown, from East India Quay, took up weightlifting at the age of 15 and holds every British record from under-16 to senior level.

Her aim is to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020 after missing out on selection of this summer’s Rio Games.

Two years ago she represented England at the 2014 Commonwealth Games in Glasgow and narrowly missed out on a medal by finishing fourth.

Brown is part of a powerful contingent of elite female athletes at UEL. They include Rio-bound swimmer Aimee Willmott, GB track sprinters Bianca Williams and Shannon Hylton, England under-19 footballer Lilli Maple and international Paralympic athlete Vanessa Daobry.