Birmingham Commonwealth Games joy for Strathaven weightlifter Jodey Hughes

Strathaven weightlifter Jodey Hughes says her dedication to training through the cold, dark winters during the pandemic has paid off with a place at this summer’s Commonwealth Games.

The 39-year-old civil servant made her Games debut on Australia’s Gold Coast four years ago when she finished ninth in the 58kg category and will now compete in Birmingham at 55kgs

Her inclusion in Team Scotland was announced last week and Hughes is over the moon to be heading to her second Commonwealth Games – something she never dreamed was possible when Covid hit two years ago

She explained: “I can’t believe it has happened. I found out eight weeks ago but I couldn’t tell anyone because we had to wait for the big announcement.

“It’s just starting to feel real now. It’s been really hard to train over the winter because it’s so dark outside and you are training in a cold, wet gym.

“But now summer is coming and the Games are coming it just feels really lovely.

“There were times when I thought this wasn’t going to happen and times where I felt I wasn’t making any progress. Especially during Covid, where I was working crazy hours supporting a lot of the Covid schemes with HMRC.

“I’d be doing long hours and then going into my cold gym to try and train. We didn’t know how long restrictions were going to be in place and there were no immediate goals to work towards. I hated training over that period, all by myself.

“But I didn’t stop and although I hated it, that consistency of the training has helped get me here.”

A silver medallist at the British Championships earlier this year, Hughes is hoping to add a medal at the showpiece event in July, as well as attempting a double bodyweight clean and jerk.

She added: “I got silver at the British