Broome a different athlete before 2026 Games
Para powerlifter Olivia Broome previews Glasgow 2026
- Published
England Para-powerlifter Olivia Broome has said she is a different athlete than she was four years ago as she prepares for a second Commonwealth Games.
The 25-year-old has twice won a Paralympic bronze, first at the 2020 Games which took place in 2021 in Tokyo and again four years later in Paris.
Meanwhile she won silver in Birmingham during the 2022 Commonwealth Games and will look to go one better this summer in Glasgow.
"I think it has all come down to experience. You experience the Paralympic Games, you experience the Commonwealth Games, but then also World Championships and European Championships," she told BBC Radio Lancashire.
"It is one of those where you learn on the job, basically. I think comparing me now to four years ago, I'm a very different athlete than then."
Olivia Broome won silver in the women's lightweight Para-powerlifting event at the 2022 Commonwealth Games
The 2026 edition of the Commonwealth Games will see fewer sports take place, however Para-powerlifting is one of the events on the roster.
Unlike in the Olympics and Paralympics, para-sports have been included in the Commonwealth Games since the 2002 Games in Manchester.
Broome said she could see the argument that separating the Olympics and Paralympics put the focus on para-sport, but added that the integration the Commonwealth Games brought was also very powerful.
"You see both sides where, you know, when it's just para-sports, all eyes are just on para-sports," she said.
"But when it's integrated, for me, I feel that maybe more people might watch para-sports.
"If you've got weightlifting on at six o'clock but you've got powerlifting on at five, people might say 'while we're waiting for weightlifting, let's watch some powerlifters'."
In addition to her Paralympic and Commonwealth Games medals, Broome won golds in the junior World Championships in 2021 and senior World Championships two years later.
Broome said Para-powerlifting's inclusion in the Games meant it was clear that there was an audience interested in the sport.
"It's amazing that Para-powerlifting is one, because I think it shows that people are interested in it, people want to watch it.
"It was around a year or so ago now where we didn't even know if we would be there.
"Then we heard that, yes, powerlifting is going ahead. Then it felt like this sport is growing now and people want to watch it which makes you really happy."
