British veteran Micky Yule takes home Commonwealth para-powerlifting bronze
British military veteran Micky Yule has taken home a bronze medal at the Commonwealth Games.
The former Staff Sergent Royal Engineer, who lost both his legs in a blast in Afghanistan in 2010, claimed his first Commonwealth Games medal last night in Birmingham.
Competing for Scotland, he lifted 192kg to place third in the heavyweight benchpress – picking up his first medal after missing out in 2014 and 2018.
"I've waited eight years for this," said the Team Scotland member. "I had more sleepless nights about coming fourth in Glasgow than I did about getting blown up,
"People laugh it off but I'm not even joking. I would sit up at night worrying why I didn't and overthinking that, and I wouldn't even look down at my legs.
"Nobody needs to tell me about the highs and lows of this sport because I've felt them in front of home crowds and I wasn't going to feel it tonight. I made sure I brought that intensity."
Yule has won medals before, most notably a bronze medal at the Tokyo Paralympics, but he says this one is the best of them all.
He said: "This tops everything. I won a bronze medal at the Paralympics in front of about 60 people.
"It was about four in the morning and there wasn't even a live stream. I was having to text people to tell them I had won a bronze medal.
"I knew this event was coming. I knew I'd bring a massive crowd down – I've got a lot of my military friends along here," he added.
Before the event, Yule put a lot of pressure on himself to come away with the right result.
"I wasn't going to let anybody down. I wasn't going to let myself down and I wasn't going to let her down," he said, pointing at his young daughter, Tilly.
"I kind of knew that if I performed tonight that I would do myself justice."
Tilly was in the stands to watch her father's triumph and told us how proud she was of the veteran.
She said: "I'm really proud. I was really happy because I haven't been to a show for a long time.
"I've only been there since I was a baby. I felt really happy of my dad."
When asked what is next for Yule, the medallist revealed "nothing is next" and he's going to be taking a rest after what has been confirmed as his final Commonwealth Games.
Join Our Newsletter
