Weightlifting pensioners from Derbyshire crowned European champions

• Video report by Adam Fowler.

A pensioner couple have been crowned champions in a European weightlifting competition.

Lynn Dolman, 74, and her husband Eric, 88, from Eckington near Chesterfield, competed in the European Masters in Ireland and were crowned champions in their respective age categories.

Lynn was inspired to take up the sport at the young age of 64, but husband Eric had been competing in weightlifting since he was a teenager.

The couple now train three times a week in the backyard.

Eric said: "It's our first international for a few years. A couple of years anyway. So, I wasn't sure what the competition competitors were like. And of course we found out – we're the best!"

The couple had previously won the British Masters titles twice, first in 2013 and second in 2015.

Now with a European title under their belt, they have their sights set on the World Championships in Poland this summer.

Lynn added: "Makes you feel good when you've done it.  You feel good with yourself and it's good for your bones.

"I think I might try powerlifting, and that's a different it's a squat deadlift and a bench press. I think that might be the way forward."

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