A BODYBUILDING woman and her partner are celebrating after receiving invites to the British finals.

Annabel Atherton, 19, who lives in Ulverston, and her boyfriend Dan Hall, 21, entered the National Amateur Body-Builders’ Association (NABBA) North West competition in Bolton at the weekend.

Dan came second place in the under 23 category, earning himself a place in the Bradford final this weekend, however, it was Annabel that ‘stole the show’.

“It went really well,” said Annabel. “It was a really good experience.

“I started prep about 15 weeks ago after going to my coach the week before asking about competing.

“I’ve only been training properly for about a year to a year and a half.”

Annabel is ‘really excited’ to compete in the finals and has thanked her coach Kade Kendall for giving her more confidence.

She said: “My coach is being very motivational and spurring me on and giving me a lot more confidence.

“Every time I step on stage I just want to do more and carry on.”

Kade, owner of Barrow’s Transformation Unit, praised Dan and Annabel for their hard work.

He said: “On Sunday we travelled through to Bolton to compete in a world-renowned show.

“Dan came second with an invite to the Britain but Annabel stole the show.

“She was absolutely amazing and so was the feedback we had off the judges, they couldn’t keep their eyes off her.

“She came out and won at the age of 19.

“She was in the Open Bikini Class, and she won her class and then went on to the Overall Ladies. You don’t get judged against the competitors, you get judged on who fits their criteria the best, and she took the overall North West show.

“For 19 years of age it is a very, very big achievement.

“Dan and Annabel both qualified for the British finals this Saturday in Bradford and we’re going with very high expectations of going home with the gold.

“I couldn’t be any more proud of them both, they’re both very young and it’s the first year that they have been competing so it’s a lot for them to learn and understand. There’s a lot of pressure on stage and backstage but they’ve taken it in their pride.”