Adaptive Open

The event welcomed athletes across a wide range of classifications, including:

• Upper/Lower Extremity
• Neuromuscular
• Seated
• Multi-Extremity Impairments
• Short Stature
• Blind Athletes

Martin Colclough, of the Programmes Advisory Board for the Invictus Games, attended the event and praised the initiative:

“It was a pleasure to be at such a ground-breaking event. British Weight Lifting are world-leading in the progress they’re making to include adaptive athletes in all forms of lifting.”

The day opened with the Neuromuscular category, featuring impressive performances from Jay Southern, Abigail Wynn-Jones, Faith Fordham, and Bill Cremin.

• Bill Cremin earned the Personal Best Performance Award after achieving PBs in both the snatch and clean & jerk.
• Jay Southern received the Standout Performance Award, selected by centre referee Paul Garvie.

Awards were presented by Councillor Jackie Taylor, Cabinet Member for Adult Services, Health and Wellbeing.

In the second session, the Seated category took to the platform, represented by Elle Dempsey, Maddie Gordon, Natalie South-Law, Robert Davy, Nigel Barber, Ben Triglia-Poulton, and Jacob Smith.

• Robert Davy received the Personal Best Performance Award for PBs in both lifts.
• Elle Dempsey was selected for the Standout Performance Award by referee Jennifer Maysmore-Gee.

Awards were presented by Olympian and dual Commonwealth Games competitor Cyrille Tchatchet II.

The final group of the day featured a mixed category with Zoe Ibbetson, Bex Kenton, Oliver Malone, and Sam Lycett.

• Zoe Ibbetson earned the Personal Best Performance Award after hitting PBs in both lifts.
• Sam Lycett received the Standout Performance Award, again selected by Paul Garvie.

Sally Boulden, Head of Sport at Oldbury Academy, presented the awards.

In addition, Elle Dempsey and Sam Lycett were each awarded a gift bag from BoxMate for achieving 6 for 6 lifts and hitting PBs.

A representative from BoxMate shared their enthusiasm:

“It was amazing to be at the event with BWL and see adaptive athletes compete in this ground-breaking competition.

Over the past few years, we’ve built strong ties with WodAptive and many of today’s athletes. Seeing them excel in such a well-run event was inspiring.

We’re committed to our partnership with BWL and thrilled to see inclusivity at the heart of this competition. Giving adaptive athletes the freedom to compete without barriers is vital—and today’s turnout shows there’s real momentum behind this movement.”

All participating athletes received a T-shirt and tank from SBD, and thumb tape from CJC Gains. Award winners also received goodie bags with items from British Weight Lifting, Optimum Nutrition, BoxMate, and WodAptive.

Matthew Curtain, CEO of British Weight Lifting, praised the event’s success:

“The Adaptive Open was a fantastic display of the sport of weightlifting. Weightlifting is for everyone, and this game-changing competition proved just that. We were proud to host such talented athletes, and I extend my thanks to Nigel Barber and Craig Graham for their invaluable support.A heartfelt thank you also goes to our partners: BoxMate, White Lights Media, CJC Gains, To the Bar, and Optimum Nutrition.”

Sam Hayer, dual Commonwealth athlete and Head Coach at Oldbury Academy Weightlifting Club, added:

“It was such a pleasure to host the Adaptive Open. It meant a lot to welcome this incredible group of athletes and give them their moment on the platform.

Seeing our volunteers, staff, and lifters come together made it a truly special day. I’m excited for the future of adaptive weightlifting.”

Schedule

Start List

Free Livestream

WODAPTIVE

WODAPTIVE are proud to present to you a selection of adaptive functional fitness competitions.

We are a community that is enthusiastic to be giving adaptive athletes of any calibre a chance to compete in a fair and inclusive competition.

Our mission is to help educate, inspire and help those in the adaptive community reach their full potential.

Our aim is to create a truly inclusive set of competitions to be able to compete at and educate others around disability fitness, and that’s exactly what we have done. 

Adaptive training, uses a method of constantly varied functional movements patterns performed at high intensity but in an unconventional way. 

Adaptive Fitness | Alt Movement | England

The creation of Alt Movement came about around a year ago when I discovered a hidden issue. Part of my on-boarding process when working with a new client includes asking about their previous experience exercising.

With almost all of my clients with disabilities, the same unfortunate scenarios were described where the fitness setting, be that a gym, class or just another personal trainer lacked the knowledge or equipment to be able to adapt the activity to allow my client to exercise effectively and even, in many cases, exclude them.

Our mission is to help educate, inspire and help those in the adaptive community reach their full potential. Using Strength and conditioning we aim to work on your strength, conditioning and rehabilitation.