ANNA Luciano made a great start to her competitive powerlifting career by qualifying for the British Championships, which take place in September.

Luciano, who trains at Functional Fitness in Bicester showed no signs of nerves during the opening event of the South West Championships, and registered a squat that laid the foundation for a successful day.

She kept her qualifying hopes alive with a good bench press.

The final event of the day was her favourite – the dead lift.

She completed a clinical performance by lifting more than twice her own bodyweight to reach the required qualifying total.

“I feel this experience will enable me to progress and compete with the best lifters in the UK,” she said.

Luciano trains alongside other successful powerlifters andbelieves the team environment and coaching is helping her to realise her potential.