14 DAY TRIAL // Dreams know no age and they certainly don’t take into account if you’re a boy or a girl. Charley Craig from Glasgow is just 11 years old but she’s not afraid to dream huge: by the end of the year, she will be able to lift her own body weight above her head and she’s going for weightlifting gold.
The Daily Mail proudly dubs her “Britain’s strongest girl” and, by the looks of it, it has every reason to do so.
She started training when she was just 9 and has been keeping it up ever since. Right now, Charley is at the gym 12 hours every week, and she says she wants to get to take part in the Olympics one day.
“It is really hard work and I’m sore most of the time. But then I look back and I’m happy with what I’ve done. My coach says I’ve got the potential to do well and go really far,” she tells the Mail.
Her coach is also her brother, also a professional weightlifter.
Charley is now training with adults at the gym, but she says they’re nothing but very supportive of her, always keeping her motivated and encouraging her to do her best.
“The adults in the gym give me loads of support. When I can’t do it they say ‘up, up, up’ and they encourage me so I can concentrate and do it,” she explains.
“I like the gym because it’s a really friendly atmosphere. If anyone gets hurt we’re always there for each other,” Charley adds.
At home, though, she’s just a regular girl, says the Mail: Charley likes to read fashion magazines, to put on makeup and play dress-up, and, of course, to have pink in everything, from the walls of her room to her bed sheets.
Her family is backing her up and encouraging to pursue her dreams: her mother makes sure she sticks by a diet of pasta, fruit and vegetables, while her brother, as noted above, helps her train.
For more on Britain’s strongest girl (including photos), please refer here.