Cairo 2025: Broome ready to lift Team GB to new heights

The Cairo 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships are just around the corner – first up is the Rookie & Next Gen event on 9 and 10 October, followed by the Elite World Championships from 11 to 18 October.

Preparations are in full swing for the biggest Para powerlifting showcase since the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games. This is the 11th edition of the WPPO Championships, set to make history as the first to be staged in Africa.

And there’s more at stake than medals: Cairo 2025 marks the very start of the qualification pathway towards the Los Angeles 2028 Paralympic Games.

One athlete with her eyes firmly set on LA is Olivia Broome. At just 24, the British Para powerlifter is already a two-time Paralympic bronze medallist. Now she’s kicking off her third Paralympic cycle with the clear goal of competing – and succeeding – in California.

Is the world champion Olivia Broome ready to take a step forward from her Tokyo 2020 bronze? 🥇🥈👀

Tune in for the women’s up to 50kg category starting at 12:00pm, Paris time! ⏰#ParaPowerlifting | @Paralympics | @Paris2024 | @GBWeightLifting pic.twitter.com/5zUStKPsiE

— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) September 5, 2024

Falling in love with the sport

But before the bright lights of LA, Broome has business to attend to in Cairo. This will be her fifth WPPO Championships since bursting onto the international scene at Mexico 2017 – the same year she first picked up Para powerlifting and instantly fell in love with the sport.

“I love the feeling of getting stronger and setting new personal bests both in and out of competition, and I love the opportunities it’s given me to compete all over the world,” Broome said in her British Weight Lifting athlete profile. “Training can be tough, but I love being in the gym with my teammates.”

Her progress was immediate. In 2018, she struck gold at the Berck-sur-Mer European Regional Championships in the junior category, lifting 80kg in the women’s up to 50kg class – a performance that also earned her fifth place in the senior competition.

Bronze in Tokyo, silver in Tbilisi

The medals didn’t come right away on the world stage – she missed out at the 2019 World Championships in Nur-Sultan. But strong World Cup results secured her place at Tokyo 2020, where she made her Paralympic debut.

When it mattered most, Broome rose to the occasion. A second-round lift of 107kg earned her the bronze in the women’s up to 50kg category, behind China’s Dandan Hu and Egypt’s Rehab Ahmed, who both managed 120kg.

Just months later at the Tbilisi 2021 WPPO Championships, Broome struck again – twice. She lifted 107kg to reclaim her junior world title and then repeated the feat in the seniors to take silver, once again behind Rehab Ahmed.

Gold and glory in Dubai

In 2022, Broome moved up to the 55kg category and bagged another silver at the European Open in Georgia, lifting 115kg. But the following year she dropped back down to 50kg – and it paid off. At the Dubai 2023 World Para Powerlifting Championships, she delivered the performance of her life, lifting 112kg on her final attempt to win her first elite world title.

Olivia Broome, European and now a World champ! 🥇🇬🇧

Three clean and successful lifts were enough for her first senior World Championship gold in front of a loud Team GB! 🏋️‍♀️

Next: Paralympic gold? 👀#Dubai2023 | #ParaPowerlifting | @ParaSport | @Paralympics | @GBWeightLifting pic.twitter.com/GAF9tLf9D8

— Para Powerlifting (@Powerlifting) August 23, 2023

The celebrations were made even sweeter by the support of her Team GB squad. “We’re like a really close-knit family and it’s great that we all come and support each other. It’s a great group,” Broome said after her historic win.

That gold also guaranteed her a ticket to Paris 2024 – where she once again proved her class. Lifting 119kg, she secured another Paralympic bronze, matching the lift of China’s Jinping Xiao but just behind Venezuela’s Clara Sarahy Fuentes Monasterio, whose 124kg made history as her country’s first Para powerlifting medal.

Winning her second Paralympic medal in front of her whole family and plenty of friends made Paris extra special for Broome, especially after the empty stands and restrictions of a COVID-hit Tokyo 2020.

“It’s an extra drive because I wanted them to see this – to see what it’s like winning a medal.”
Now, with two Paralympic bronzes and a world title already to her name, Broome is heading to Cairo 2025 with plenty to defend – and even more to prove. At just 24, her third Paralympic cycle is only beginning, but the hunger is stronger than ever.