Ben Ward is a weightlifter who was awarded a Scholarship within the 2018 Sport Australia Hall of Fame Scholarship and Mentoring Program, and was paired with Tim Horan AM as his Mentor.
Ben was born on Queensland’s Gold Coast in 2000 and came to weightlifting after enjoying rugby league and surf lifesaving as a child. He started lifting competitively in 2014 and achieved excellent results very early in his career.
At the end of 2017, Ben was the number 1 youth and junior lifter in Australia after breaking 28 national records and 43 state records.
Australian weightlifting statistics are dominated by the name Ben Ward from 2015 to 2019 when he went on a record-breaking run through the junior ranks. The Cougars Weightlifting Club lifter broke 14 records in 2015 and almost 30 in 2016, across the Snatch and Clean and Jerk events, and set new records for his total score. He then broke another 5 records in 2017 and many more in 2018.
While he was breaking records, Ben was collecting state and national titles and representing his country at junior world championships, Commonwealth and Oceania Championships, as well as collecting state and national titles and demonstrating the potential to compete at senior international level.
Ben on his selection: “I’m really excited to be a member of the scholarship and mentoring program, it’s a great acknowledgement to the work I have done so far. Having access to someone like Tim Horan is invaluable and I will make the most of the time I can spend with him, and learn from his experiences.”
Honours & Achievements
- 2015: Cougars Weightlifting Club – broke 14 records
- 2016: Cougars Weightlifting Club – broke approximately 30 records
- 2017: Cougars Weightlifting Club – broke 5 records
- 2017: Number 1 Junior and Youth Lifter in Australia
