The 17-year-old harbours dreams of one day competing in the Olympics and is currently competing in the 2026 European Junior Weightlifting Championships as she bids to fulfil that aim.

It is a journey Pelta shares on social media, posting training clips, personal best lifts and days in the life with her 130,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, the majority of whom are women under 24 years old.

And in doing so, the college student from Edgware is bidding to break down the stereotypes that have long shaped perceptions of weightlifting.

Britain’s Strongest Schoolgirl Amelie Pelta is challenging stereotypes through weightlifting to show women can embrace femininity while still lifting big. (Image: Nick Hartwell)

“It’s just that idea that you can still be girly, be your own self, while also lifting big weights,” explained Pelta.

“You don’t need to hide away from it, thinking, ‘oh, I don’t want muscles,’ or ‘I don’t want to look like a boy,’ because I think it’s cool. It’s something you should be proud of.

“It was quite intimidating to come into this sport, because all I saw was mainly, ‘oh, it’s a men’s sport’, with big strength and people just lifting loads.

“But you can still have your hair and make-up done. [At the Europeans], I’ll have a massive bow in my hair, while I’m going to try to lift PB weights and go up against the best in Europe.

“I want to keep building up that following and promoting the idea of girls getting into strength sports, showing that it’s not scary and that it should be more normalised.

“I just want to help build an amazing community of girls in sport and girls doing strength training, especially, and enjoying it.”

It was not until Sydney 2000 that women’s weightlifting was even featured as a sport at the Olympics, with men’s weightlifting having debuted over a century earlier in 1896.

But since then, trailblazers have set about shifting those perceptions. In the UK, Emily Campbell has led the way, becoming the first British woman to medal in weightlifting at the Olympics with silver at Tokyo 2020, and since adding bronze at Paris 2024.

Unsurprisingly, she is a key inspiration for Pelta, who is 15 years her junior, with the youngster aiming to reach a similar level while also contributing to continued work to challenge stigmas.

“I definitely have my sights set on the Olympics, and just getting up the rankings in weightlifting as I go,” she said.

“If I ever get to that level, I just want to be like Emily Campbell. She’s so inspiring and definitely sends the right message about what weightlifting is like and helps break away from the stereotypes.

“I would love to be like her in the way she puts across such a positive image of weightlifting, because it’s mainly because of her that things have changed in weightlifting and the positivity around it has grown.”

In both aspects of competing at the top level and breaking down barriers, Pelta is on the right track.

The moniker of ‘Britain’s Strongest Schoolgirl’ has come about for a reason, having already broken multiple British and European youth records, while she is also Gymshark’s youngest ambassador.

And while she balances that with full-time education, there is still time to let all she has achieved sink in amid the constant search for more PBs.

“Even when I flew out here [to the Europeans], I was like, ‘this is just crazy.’ I was getting my head around the competition and what I wanted to achieve,” she reflected.

“I love to soak it all up, because it is really cool. PBs are the aim. I’m definitely in shape to be able to do that. It’s just about putting it all together on the day, but that’s definitely the goal.

“At the same time, I was planning social media, so I was sitting there thinking, ‘How lucky am I to be able to do all this? I am flying out for GB, while also planning my social media ad posts and working with brands I’ve loved.’"