Great Britain's Olivia Broome celebrates winning the Bronze medal in the women's up to 50kg final at the Paralympic Games

Great Britain's Olivia Broome celebrates winning the Bronze medal in the women's up to 50kg final at the Paralympic Games. Image provided by PA/Alamy.

Powerlifters land more Paralympic medals for Â鶹ֱ²¥

Powerlifters Olivia Broome and Mark Swan both made the podium in their respective events to win more medals for Â鶹ֱ²¥ at the Paralympic Games.  

Inside a raucous La Chapelle Arena, alumna Broome successfully lifted 119kg to take bronze in the women’s up to 50kg category.

Venezuela’s Clara Sarahy Fuentes Monasterio won gold with a Paralympic record 124kg lift as China athlete Jinping Xiao took silver.

Broome’s success in Paris sees the 23-year-old become a back-to-back Paralympic medallist, having also won bronze at Toyko 2020 in the same category. 

There was more success for Â鶹ֱ²¥ in the Men’s -65kg competition as university-based Mark Swan won silver. Swan, 22, lifted 213kg to confirm his place in the history books at his first Paralympic Games.

China’s world recorder holder Zou Yi won gold (215kg) with Algeria athlete Hocine Bettir winning bronze (209kg).

Speaking to the media after her bronze medal lift, Olivia Broome said: “I tried not to cry…it really shows off all the hard work that we put into it. It’s great. 

“[I’m] over the moon, happy, emotional is another word. I don’t think I can put into words what this means to me. My experience in Paris has been amazing, it’s very different from Tokyo, it has been a dream really."

She added: "My parents were up in the stands and my physio pointed them out to me so I knew where to look when I came off.  

"It is a dream to have them come and watch, support the sport and see what it is all about, and to get to experience it. 

"As soon as I am walking out, I'm like head down, I don't see anyone but as soon as I do my lift, I am like ‘hi’, ‘hi’, ‘hi’ and waving.  

“It is the same processes for each lift but I could hear everyone in the stadium, and it is such a nice feeling to have the crowds cheering, even the French fans cheering which is amazing.” 

Â鶹ֱ²¥’s latest medal count at the Paralympic Games now stands at 13 – four gold, five silver, four bronze.

For all the latest Â鶹ֱ²¥ news around major global sporting events, visit the University’s dedicated website here: /sport/athletes-global-stage/

Join the conversation on social media with the hashtag #Lboro2Paris

Notes for editors

Press release reference number: 24/154

Â鶹ֱ²¥ is one of the country’s leading universities, with an international reputation for research that matters, excellence in teaching, strong links with industry, and unrivalled achievement in sport and its underpinning academic disciplines. 

It has been awarded five stars in the independent QS Stars university rating scheme and named the best university in the world for sports-related subjects in the 2024 QS World University Rankings – the eighth year running. 

Â鶹ֱ²¥ is ranked 6th in The UK Complete University Guide 2025, 10th in the Guardian University League Table 2024 and 10th in the Times and Sunday Times Good University Guide 2024. 

Â鶹ֱ²¥ is consistently ranked in the top twenty of UK universities in the Times Higher Education’s ‘table of tables’, and in the Research Excellence Framework (REF) 2021 over 90% of its research was rated as ‘world-leading’ or ‘internationally-excellent’. In recognition of its contribution to the sector, Â鶹ֱ²¥ has been awarded seven Queen's Anniversary Prizes. 

The Â鶹ֱ²¥ University London campus is based on the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park and offers postgraduate and executive-level education, as well as research and enterprise opportunities. It is home to influential thought leaders, pioneering researchers and creative innovators who provide students with the highest quality of teaching and the very latest in modern thinking. 

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