Wonderful success for Mullingar weightlifter

History was made in Muldova when Callum Quinn of Mullingar Weightlifting won a bronze medal at this year's European Under 15 Weightlifting Championships, the first one in Irish weightlifting history.

Callum’s medal was earned following a hard-fought contest between the athletes involved. It went down to Callum’s last lift, which would have been a new personal best in which he was successful, with great composure, power and technical ability.

It's a very proud achievement for Callum, the Mullingar club and coach Wayne Healy. When speaking about Callum and his achievements, Wayne noted the significance of the podium finish on a major international stage.

“Firstly, to compete at that level is big, but to come back with a Medal is truly amazing,” he said.

“To think Callum and his Dad (Antony) walked into Mullingar Weightlifting club only one year ago: we could see the ability and potential straight away. It wasn't all plain sailing; Callum had to be very tireless on mobility and timing of his movements. His work rate is second to none.”

Callum attended a training camp in Italy with the Mullingar club, which had amazing benefits of being able to live and train like professionals for two weeks before returning home for the final presentation for the tournament.

Wayne also mentioned the Irish team that attended the tournament being the best he has ever seen in his 30+ years in the sport. He thanked Weightlifting Ireland for sending a team and the coaches on the day, Sean Brown and Harry Leach for their commitment and experience to make this happen.

Wayne noted that this would be impossible without the help and support from Callum’s parents, who took him to training, got him to events and backed his dreams.