JUST 10 months after taking up para powerlifting, Louise Sugden has been crowned European champion after a stunning performance in France.
Sugden lifted 108kg at the Para Powerlifting European Championships in Berck-Sur-Mer to see off competition from Spain’s Maria Alcoba and Azerbaijan’s Aytan Baghirova.
The win caps a whirlwind year for the athlete.
On International Women’s Day she was announced as a recipient of sponsorship from disability charity Path to Success, as part of their new Path to Tokyo initiative.
The Reading star is receiving funding from Path to Success towards coaching, training and travel costs in the build-up to the Tokyo Paralympics, having already won a silver medal at the Commonwealth Games in April.
Sugden, 33, is setting her sights on a first Paralympic medal at Tokyo in 2020 having previously represented the GB Women’s Wheelchair Basketball team at the 2008 Beijing Paralympics and at London 2012.
She won five European Championship bronze medals in her time as a wheelchair basketball player.
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