Brenna Kean (weightlifting) was the first Australian weightlifter in action in Birmingham where she finished 5th in the women’s 59kg on her Commonwealth Games debut. The Victorian went all out with a final attempt at 114kg in the clean & jerk which would have been enough to move her into the medals, but she failed to get the bar up with what would have beaten her previous best lift by six kilograms. Initially a competitive swimmer and CrossFit competitor before switching to weightlifting in 2018, Brenna’s first club competition was in her hometown of Geelong in March 2021 which qualified her for the Victorian Championships the following month. She set her clean & jerk personal best of 108kg at the Australian championships in November 2021, total (190kg) at the Singapore International in February 2022 and snatch (83kg) in Birmingham in 2022. Kean, who is a full-time paramedic, is coached by Miles Wydall from Brisbane’s Cougars Weightlifting Club although she is still based in Geelong. Her favourite Commonwealth Games moment was watching fellow CrossFit enthusiast Tia-Clair Toomey win gold in the 58kg at the Gold Coast 2018 Games.