VIDEO: Doncaster weightlifter Fraer Morrow hopes to raise the bar at Commonwealth Games

Doncaster teenager Fraer Morrow is enjoying a taste of the big time in Brisbane ahead of the Commonwealth Games.
Fraer MorrowFraer Morrow
Fraer Morrow

The 19-year-old weightlifter - who will compete in the early hours of Friday morning - is one of five representing Team England on the Gold Coast.

It is her first Games, but her friends back home see so much promise that they are already looking ahead.

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But Morrow is refusing to get carried away just yet as she looks to deliver when it matters most on the Gold Coast.

“They see it as the next step from the Olympics!” she laughed.

“It’s amazing, but I need to get this competition out of the way first.

“Everyone is enjoying training and enjoying being here.

“Most people have been to Brisbane before, but for me it’s a new experience so it’s really good.

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“It’s so good to see everyone in the England team, especially people I’ve seen on telly and on Instagram!”

It seems Morrow has one eye on her Team England colleagues and the other on her competition.

She had not trained much with her fellow weightlifters before arriving in Australia, but is adapting well to the new environment.

“My training sessions seem to be shorter than the others but I have two sessions,” she said.

“They usually take about an hour and a half.

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“I am definitely hoping to beat my PB for snatch and clean and jerk. At the minute, at 53kg I have snatched 73 and clean and jerked 94.

“If you see someone lift something in your weight class and think you’ve got a bit of competition, sometimes it can motivate you but sometimes it can get to your head, so you’ve got to balance it out.”

The former gymnast got into the sport through CrossFit, a hybrid of intensive cardio and strength exercises where she found she was suited to the latter.

What she describes as a small and stocky frame was perfectly suited for the discipline.

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Her family have always been sporty – her father Grant was a striker for Doncaster Rovers and Colchester United in the 1990s – and so are understandably proud of their daughter’s ascent.

Should Morrow make it to the top of the podium, it will be the new Team England anthem Jerusalem playing, following a reworking of the song by long jumper Jazmin Sawyers and Britain’s Got Talent winner Tokio Myers.

“My mum and stepdad are coming to watch me, so that’s good,” she said.

“My mum will be screaming, and after every lift she will be crying. When I’ve finished, she won’t stop crying – that’s just what she’s like!

“She’ll probably be the loudest one there.

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“There are no words to describe how you can feel representing your country, representing England.

“It would be great to be on the podium, it would be amazing.”

*npower is the Official Partner of Team England and is giving our athletes the power of support by recording a brand new version of their anthem, Jerusalem. To listen to the track visit npower.com/teamengland

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