A woman who says she ‘stumbled’ into weightlifting is hoping to show her strength when she competes in the European Masters championships.

Jo McManus, a sports therapist in Mossley, is part of the Great Britain team hoping for glory in Austria next month.

Not bad for the 44-year-old, who only took up the sport three years ago, and has already picked up a silver medal in last year’s competition.

Jo, who works at Arundel Street’s Body and Mind Therapy Centre, trains at Crossfit gym in Bredbury.

She said: "My coach Mark Beck attended the Northern Masters about three years ago and a couple of us went along to watch him. While we were there he discovered there was no qualifying standard for women to enter the British masters so he persuaded a few of us from the gym to go along.

"You don’t get a lot of women in weightlifting so we pretty much doubled if not trebled the number who were there.  I just sort of stumbled into it. There’s this image that people’s necks are larger than their heads but it’s not about being big like they look on the World’s Strongest Man. It’s about speed and flexibility and it’s good fun. It gives you something to aim for."

Jo, who recently recovered from a shoulder injury, will lift a total of around 70kg or just over 11 stone.

She said: "You get three chances at each lift. The snatch is where you take the bar from the floor over your head in one movement. The ‘clean and jerk’ is two movements where you clean it onto your shoulders and jerk it overhead. Of course I’d like to win but after all the injury setbacks I’ve had I’m just glad that I’ve been able to qualify. It’s great to be able to go over there and take part."

The European Masters starts on May 17 in Linz, Austria.