Powerlifter Josh to take on the world after retaining his GB crown

A RIPON Grammar School past pupil and champion powerlifter with ambitions to become England's strongest man is making a name for himself on the world stage.

Josh Berriman, who left RGS in 2021, represented Great Britain at his first international competition in Malta last year and has just been selected to compete for his country again at the world championships in Costa Rica in September, having been crowned the strongest in his age category at the British Junior Championships for two years' running,

The 21-year-old, who will also be competing in the European powerlifting championships in Lithuania after Costa Rica, hopes he can build on his success last year in Malta, where he won bronze and silver for Team GB in the International Powerlifting Federation Junior World Championships, contributing to the first ever gold overall for GB junior men.

"It's going to be another busy year for me," he says.

A keen runner and rugby player at school - and a member of the triple Yorkshire Cup-winning team - he says RGS director of sport Adam Milner realised his potential in sport from a very young age, although Josh left school in 2021 just after Covid with no real idea of what he wanted to do.

He recalls being inspired by York St John University’s sports science department during an RGS PE school trip: “All the strength tests definitely flicked a switch in me somewhere down the line and made me realise I was built for strength sports.”

During lockdown he had begun lifting weights at home with his father and found himself getting stronger as he added more weight to the bar: “I soon fell in love with the sport and, after leaving school, continued to train very hard in the gym.”

Soon, he was entering local and regional powerlifting competitions and, in November 2021, broke three out of four under-18 records in a Yorkshire and North-East competition against all ages in the under-105kg weight class in the squat, deadlift and total, coming third out of 20 lifters overall, even though he was the youngest competitor.

This qualified him for the under-23 national competition in March 2022, in which  he was placed sixth in the UK.

Following two years of hard training and two more competitions, Josh was delighted to be ranked number one in the UK when he won the under-23 British Super Heavyweight title in March 2024, with an 890kg total made up of a 350kg squat, 190kg bench press and 350kg deadlift - despite being just 20 years old and lightest in the class at 133.5kg.

“This drew the attention of the head junior team GB coaches, and I was invited join the team at the IPF junior world powerlifting championships in Malta shortly afterwards,” he says.

Josh, who works as a stonemason when he's not in training, is now looking forward to competing against the strongest junior number ones in the world.

"The biggest challenge I’ve faced so far is balancing a heavy training schedule with a manual job but it’s definitely made me a better and more well-rounded strength athlete overall.

“I hope to podium and bring back medals for Team GB with the goal of winning next year and being ranked number one in the world.

“Powerlifting is only the first step in my journey as I wish to gain the title of World’s Strongest Man one day in the official Strongman Games and believe I’m on the right track.

“I am currently training harder than ever to achieve my goal of being one of the first humans in history to total 1000kg naturally as a junior.”

When he was at school, running was his first passion and he achieved under 20mins in the 5km and under 5mins in the 1500km in Year 9: “I may not have become an Olympic level runner, but I’ve achieved the next best thing in powerlifting,” he says.

He looks back on the Paris rugby tour of 2017 as the highlight of his time at school: "We played two very tough local teams and had the privilege of training at the ground of the giants of French rugby, Racing 92."

He adds: "The most important lesson I learnt at RGS was to maintain a consistent routine as it brings structure in your life and keeps you dedicated to the bigger picture."