I love my body – it
does amazing things.
I can lift twice my
own weight above
my head. I try to put
across a message of
body positivity and
confidence on my
social media.
As a child, I was bullied
for being muscular.
Doing gymnastics, I
was always very toned,
but now I lift, I’m more
muscly than ever. I’m
also the most confident
I’ve ever been, too.
Initially, confidence
was a barrier for me
- I would fake it to
stop people attacking
my body. But now I’ve
played that role for so
long, I’ve genuinely
started to believe it.
I’ve learned not to
listen to negativity.
When I first started
lifting, people told
me that I’d end up
shaped like a man.
But women don’t
have the level of
testosterone needed
to create that kind
of body. Over time,
I’ve become strong-
minded as well as
strong-bodied, so
when people say
things like that, it just
makes me want to
prove them wrong.
I always do my hair
and make-up before
I go out on to the
platform. It serves as
a distraction before a
competition to help
calm my nerves, but
it helps me feel good,
too. I think because
of the way society
portrays women,
seeing me like that
makes girls more
inclined to give
weightlifting a go.
They start to realise
that you can be
strong and muscular,
but also feminine.
This body helped me
win Miss Continental
England. The common
stereotype around
pageants is that all the
women competing are
tall, skinny and have
nothing between their
ears. But pageants
today are about
positive role models
who make an impact
on the world. My
friends who enter are
lawyers, doctors and
dentists who want to
inspire and empower
others. It’s the true
definition of feminism.SARAH DAVIES, 26
GB weightlifter who won silver at the 2018 Commonwealth Games
Women’s Health SEPTEMBER 2019 | 95
N
A
K
E
D(^2)
0
1
9