14 Year Old Weightlifter, Britain's Strongest Girl and 'Athlete of the Year'

The schoolgirl set 98 British records last year and has her sights set on competing at the London Olympics in 2012.

By WILL BRINSON and FANHOUSE.COM

Updated 8:15 AM EST, Fri, Jan 9, 2009

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14 years of age is very, very young to be a champion at anything. Especially so if it's weightlifting. And even moreso, all stereotyping aside, for a female. But Zoe Smith, a young lady (lass?) from Britain, is casting aside all preconceived notions and generally shattering every female British weightlifting record in sight.

The schoolgirl set 98 British records last year and has her sights set on competing at the London Olympics in 2012.

And she has now been voted "Athlete of the Year" in her sport by the British Olympic Association.

The title is usually reserved for Olympic medallists, but she was handed the award after taking gold at the Commonwealth Youth Games in Pune, India.

She did so, because, as you can read above, she broke NINETY-EIGHT records last year. That were held by tons of people in ONE COUNTRY. Do you realize how good she must be? And do you realize how insane shattering 98 records of anything is? And can I stop using capitals now?

The best part of all this, though, is that Zoe is humble as all get out -- she nearly declined to mention the award to anyone because she thought that it might be a "mistake". As to whether she can make female weightlifting a "darling sport" (a la figure skating, gymnastics, etc.) at the next Olympic Games, well, that might be an even tougher task. But it sure seems like if anyone can do it, it's her.