A powerlifting chef from Moray has cooked up the perfect recipe for success after storming to a double victory in his sport’s world championships.
Neil Stewart, 40, smashed two personal records and established an all-time British best on his way to reaching the summit of the podium at the competition in the USA.
The Aberlour chef is back at work this week, preparing breakfasts on early morning shifts, but he is celebrating the two gold medals he gained from his efforts in Louisiana in a sport he only recently took up.
And Mr Stewart said the accomplishment of winning the titles this month was only just starting to sink in.
He added: “It is an amazing feeling and, considering I only started competing three years ago, I never expected I would become a world champion.
“I had hoped to get 180kg in the bench press, but I was affected by jet lag and had accumulated water weight from the flight, so I had to make a weight cut.
“I was really happy with the deadlift, especially because of the pedigree of that competition. To win, I had to beat the captain of the Russian team, who is also the president of the Russian Powerlifting Federation.”
Mr Stewart flew out to America with the rest of the Great Britain squad in fine form on the back of winning the European Championships earlier in the year.
Despite being up against the best competitors from across the globe, the 40-year-old’s dedicated training regime paid dividends.
In the opening round of the bench press, the chef lifted 157.5kg in the first round before building to a hefty 172.5kg in the final round to claim the victory.
Buoyed by the win, Mr Stewart opened his deadlift account with a solid lift of 257.5kg. However, he reached a new level in the second round with a British record of 265kg – smashing the previous best by 5kg.
Cheered on by the rest of the British contingent, he subsequently broke the record again and struck gold with a phenomenal lift of 270kg.
The patriotic Scot donned a kilt for the prize-giving ceremony in front of the American crowd.
And he already has his sights set on his next challenge – becoming a father for the first time with his wife Gaynor due to give birth in January.
The chef has been supported in his training by his employers, The Station Hotel, which has helped him with travel costs to get to competitions while giving him flexibility with shifts.
Neil Slessor, general manager of the Rothes-based hotel, said: “We are all so proud of him – we can’t believe we have a world champion working with us. It is a huge achievement.
“We had every bit of faith in him to come back with a gold medal for us – and the fact that he has come back with two of them is amazing.”