AN ATHLETE has the world at his feet after defying the odds to scoop bronze at a national powerlifting championships.

Lee Lawson, aged 25, right, who has Down's Syndrome, carried off the prestigious prize at the National Powerlifting Championships for people with learning disabilities at the Leeds Hilton Hotel.

He is now hoping to make a name for himself across the world at the next European Championships in two years time.

His success is all the more remarkable because he has only been powerlifting for 15 months.

Proud step-dad John Yeadon said: "He has a very promising future ahead of him and powerlifting has brought him out of his shell.

"The world is quite literally his oyster and my wife Linda and I are very proud of him, he's done terrifically well and shown such courage.

"He's made great strides, both in the sport and as a person. He originally entered the sporting arena in the gymnastics dance

routine, which he did at the special Olympics.

"His social worker then got us in touch with the Armley Prison Trust run by Yorkshire and Humberside Powerlifting.

"He trains at Armley every Sunday and also has his own personal trainer at Johnny's Gym in Yeadon."

Lee, who lives on The Crescent in Otley, has entered 15 championships so far, and in addition to his bronze award against the country's best on Saturday, he has already won several silver medals and has also been highly commended.

John said: "He always thinks he is going to win and he is more than capable of reaching the European championships - he can go all around the world if he wants.

"He's got such strength of character. On Saturday he was well adrift, but he came back and lifted a personal best of 115kg like a

feather, so there is so much more he can do."

Mr Yeadon likened Lee to extravagant boxer Chris Eubank.

"Lee really loves it. He comes onto the stage with a big smile, waving his arms and he really gets the crowd going - Eubank is the nearest thing to him really. He's a crowd-pleaser.

"He does everything himself and really is a cracking lad. He's just like a normal boy really. He supports Chelsea and likes pop music like Steps, Boyzone and Geri Helliwell."

At the British championships on Saturday, Lee had a disastrous first lift in the first discipline, deep knee squats, but recovered in the following two lifts. In the second discipline, bench press, he narrowly missed out on a personal best, but in the final discipline, dead lift, he did a personal best of 115 kg.

"He got upset when he messed up his first lift, and we had to raise his spirits because he gets very disappointed when he can't do it. But he came back and showed he's a winner."