A single mum-of-two from Eccles has won gold at the European championships in powerlifting.
Lenka Pilnikova, 39, won the medal representing GBR at the European championships in March this year as well as becoming three-times British Champion just 12 days later.
The Slovakian-born athlete also became a Silver medalist at the commonwealth championships in New Zealand in December last year after a fundraiser to support her trip.
She said: “When I got there, I was like oh my god I’m on the other side of the world. It was just a really crazy experience. If I didn’t compete, I wouldn’t have ever been to the countries I’ve been to.
“When I was in New Zealand I was asked if I could represent GBR at the European championships I hadn’t even finished yet and had to prepare for the next one”
However, Lenka was not without struggle across the competitions, facing a hip injury before the European championships and often being far away from her two children, Tiffany and Theo.
She said: “Travelling was a really bad experience, I was travelling for five days.
“I was thinking on the way the more and more I was flying the further away I was getting from my kids and my family.
Lenka first entered the powerlifting community in 2017 when she found herself needing a new focus and being recommended whilst training in the gym
“I kind of lost myself in the gym, I had no goals, no ending
“I was always really competitive, so I gave it a go and did my first powerlifting competition in January 2017”
She highlighted the positives of powerlifting and the impact the feeling of being strong can have, saying: “Everybody I’ve spoken to says it’s really helped their mental health, a lot of people get into powerlifting for that reason
“A few people I’ve spoken to went into powerlifting to help with their eating disorder, because if you want to be strong you need to eat more”
Lenka has been an inspiration to her 15-year-old daughter Tiffany, who competed in her first regional powerlifting competition, breaking three national records and qualifying for her first sub-junior British championships.
She added: “She has her first British championships on the 29th April, she’s really excited.
“She’s got really good chances to be in a GB team”
Lenka has also qualified for the world championships in Mongolia but faces the financial burden as well as the difficulty of being a single mum. She followed: “Mongolia will be a really big financial stretch for me again
“As a mum I need to think twice, I would really love to go as it’s the world championships.
“It will be a shame if I can’t go, at the moment I can’t afford it without any sponsors.”
Despite her success, Lenka still wants to achieve more and continues to work towards her goals, serving as an inspiration to those in her community. She added: “For me it’s not the achievement of the medals, it’s the feeling of being strong and being an example to somebody”
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