Kiwi success for Gelston

Kiwi success for Gelston

4 January 2023

A DRUMANESS strongman has powered his way to international success in New Zealand.

Conor Gelston returned home from Auckland 

to his native village with four third place medals 

he earned at the Commonwealth Powerlifting 

Championships after pipping high grade 

contestants from across the globe to the podium position.

Representing Northern Ireland in the under 66 kilogram senior men’s weight category, the 33 year-old claimed bronze for the squat, bench and deadlift sections of the competition, before adding another third placed medal for his overall performance.

“It was the best experience of my life,” said Conor.

“I am really pleased with the result as it was my first international competition, so I am 

hoping to continue to push myself against other high level competitors in the future.”

Conor proved he was more than up to the task as he squatted a massive 187.5kgs, bench pressed 112.5kgs and deadlifted 212.5kg for an overall total of 512.5kg.

“I am happy with how I performed, getting third in each event was a good feeling.

“The final medal I won for total weight lifted was nice to get too as I am competing against different types of athletes who may be significantly better in one category more than the other.”

Conor is also the proud business owner of CG Fitness based in Annacloy and also acts as a personal trainer, so he is no stranger to weightlifting.

He first started competing locally in 2016 and has already enjoyed noteworthy success.

“A local friend of mine, George Millar, who also competes, introduced me to the competition side of things and it was something that I became invested in,” said Conor.

“I won the combined NI and Republic of Ireland Powerlifting Championships which were held in Belfast last year.

“That is what earned me my entry to the New Zealand event.

“I think there was around ten people from Northern Ireland who helped make up the 800 competitors across the various weight categories.”

Similar to Conor, the competitors he was up against also had to win their respective regional competitions so he knew he had to be at his best to bring home a result.

Despite the pressure and travelling across the globe by himself, Conor was comforted by his support back home from his close friends and family.

“The event was streamed live on the internet so I knew those back home could watch,” he said.

“Fair play to them, they sat up to view it even though there is a considerable time difference.

“The competition would start at 2pm over there but that was 1am back home, and they watched it the whole way through until 4am.”

The event ran over a course of seven days with Conor staying in New Zealand for a total of 17 days, having landed six days earlier to give his body time to adapt to the time zones.

“I knew I would have to get there early and I obviously allowed enough time for me to adjust,” he said.

“I met up with people I knew from previous competitions when I got over there, so it wasn’t really a daunting thing to head over.

“After the hard work was done I allowed myself a few days to go sightseeing in the country, which was great, I really enjoyed my time there.”

Despite his success, Conor refuses to rest on his laurels as he eyes the next big event.

“The same competition is being held next year in South Africa so I will have to work just as hard, if not harder, to maintain my spot in the event,” he said.

“I will make sure to put the graft in and qualify again because I really want to give it another go, so that is definitely the goal for me this year.”