Preston Weightlifting star Sarah Davies is banking on her experience and knowledge to down the young guns

But the veteran weightlifter - who hails from Bilsborrow, near Preston - is banking on the vast reservoir of experience and knowledge she has gained from more than a decade of competing at the highest level to take her to further success in 2026.

The reigning Commonwealth Games champion admits she is entering the final stages of her career as a top-level, elite athlete.

Recently married and with a full-time job, the power lifter - who turns 34 later this year - has pondered whether this year will be her last hurrah?

Only time will tell, but she is eager to make the most of what time she’s got left in the sport.

Defending her Commonwealth title, in Glasgow, later this year is her No.1 goal along with the defence of the European title she won last year next month.

Finally cracking the code of the World Championships may also be a target later in the year.

Barring the Olympics, it is the one major Championships where she has yet to be placed top of the podium - a fine silver medal in Tashkent in 2021 her only medal to date from six attempts.

It is arguably now or never for Davies – who finished fifth at the Covid-hit 2020 Tokyo Olympics – if she is to fulfil her goal of winning on the world stage.

However, her participation at the worlds may all depend on her form in the intervening months.

And at 33-years-old, observers may believe age is not on her side but the former Garstang High School pupil insists experience and know-how means she cannot be counted out.

Her victory at the European Championships at the end of last year is evidence that she is still very much at the of her game.

“At my age you have kind of been there and done it,” said Davies, who claimed Commonwealth gold in Birmingham four years ago.

“I think if you look back to 2014 when I competed at the Commonwealths in Glasgow for the first time, I am a completely different athlete now.

“Certainly back then, the nerves took over where as you learn all the coping mechanisms and you know what to expect when you go to these major championships.

“You understand how mentally challenging they are so you go into events feeling a lot more mentally prepared which takes the stress off a little bit.”

Having secured two 11th and 9th place finishes in her first three attempts at the European Championships, Davies agonisingly missed out on a medal, finishing fourth twice in 2017 and 2019.

She finally secured a podium finish in 2021 with a silver medal and finally got her hands on a coveted gold medal last year in Chisinau, Moldova.

Boasting two current major titles to her name, Davies admits this year will feel slightly different as she is the one who everybody else is looking to depose.

“It’s definitely going to be interesting this year,” said Davies, who heads to Batumi, Georgia, for the Euros which begin on April 19 and end eight days later.

“That gold medal in Birmingham four years ago was the one thing I had been really chasing.

“I am in a position now where I am fortunate to still be enjoying what I am doing.

“So I am trying to enjoy that side of it rather than just be thinking about chasing a title or defending a title.

“Obviously I want to go and defend but I want the mindset that the sport is a hobby that I enjoy as opposed to it being a job.

“That’s the kind of mindset and focus that I have.”