THERE’S more to the new maths teacher at KES in Stratford than equations.
Russell Orme, who recently started as Head of Maths at King Edward VI School, is also a powerlifter for Team GB.
And the 33-year-old was granted time off from his day job recently to compete in the WPC World Powerlifting Championships in Florida, in which he won gold.
Russell qualified to compete in the Worlds after placing first in the British Nationals in July this year.
And his pupils eagerly awaited news on how he got on.
Russell competed on Thursday November 3 in Florida in the Men’s Full Power Raw division of Powerlifting, which involves three disciplines – squat, bench and deadlift.
Competitors have three opportunities to lift their heaviest possible weight in each discipline. Their biggest lift in each discipline is then combined to give an overall total score.
Russell managed a clean sweep of nine out of nine lifts obtaining a 252.5kg squat, a 177.5kg bench and a massive 300kg deadlift. His combined total score of 730kg was enough to secure him the gold medal in the men’s under 110kg weight class.
Russell trains at Barbell Training Complex in Warwick when he is not busy teaching maths. He has been competing in the sport for seven years and has taken part in local and national powerlifting competitions across the UK.
In 2016 he secured a Silver medal at the European Powerlifting Championships in Finland and he is very proud to add both a British and World Gold Medal to his medal collection this year.
Russell hopes to inspire young people to strength train to improve their health and fitness and aims to start coaching strength and conditioning at his school later this academic year.
