PARALYMPICS LONDON 2012: Newsom looking for personal best performance

By Sportsbeat staff, London 2012

BRITAIN'S other weightlifting Zoe is determined to leave the Paralympics with a personal best - but insists she's only an outside bet for a medal.

HOPEFUL: Great Britain's Zoe Newsom competes in the women's under-40kg powerlifting at the London 2012 Paralympics (onEdition)

Zoe Smith was one of the faces of Team GB at the Olympics and powerlifter Zoe Newson, 20, wants to follow her lead.

The 20-year-old, who lifts in the women’s under-40kg event on the first evening session of the Games, won the world junior title in Kuala Lumpur in 2010 and broke the European record by lifting more than twice her bodyweight to win the British title last year.

But that record fell to Nazmiye Muslu in February this year and Newson is tipping the Turkish lifter for gold at London 2012.

”I’m ranked third or fourth in the world, but my aim is just to get a personal best and enjoy it, doing the best I can,” she said.

“I’m not concentrating on medals, I think Nazmiye Muslu and China’s Cui Zhe will get gold and silver.

“I’m glad I’m on the first day of the tournament because you have to watch what you eat.

“If I was on right at the end of the competition, I wouldn’t be able to eat certain foods or enjoy it.

“This is my first Paralympics. I just missed out on qualifying for Beijing but I think I would have finished last if I had made it.

“But I’m excited because this is my first one and it’s my home country, so you can’t get better than that.”

© Sportsbeat 2012