Sean Clare

Sean Clare is our very first Team VSF athlete. As a member of staff at Valhalla Strength and Fitness, our gym in Ashton-in-Makerfield, Sean is at the very heart of the Valhalla family.

Not only does he embody our values, he helps to promote them within our facility as he guides and supports members in hitting their own goals.

Sean Clare works at Valhalla but that doesn’t mean he’s getting preferential treatment, he’s a Team VSF athlete in his own right.

Sean has a dwarfism called Ellis Van Creveld syndrome. He has competed at an international level in athletics and was 4 x World Junior Champion in Shot Putt and Discus in the F41 Para Category. Sean also held the junior World Record in Shot Putt for a time.

He is a multi-time British Champion and has also held the British Record for Discus.

Powerlifting

A couple of years ago Sean had complex spinal surgery which didn’t go to plan, meaning he could no longer compete in athletics.

"On the path to recovery I got into powerlifting."

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Sean Clare (@seanclare9)

In Sean’s words, “On the path to recovery I got into powerlifting.” Since transitioning to the sport, Sean has competed at the British Paralifting Champs in the under 59kg category where he placed 4th overall. Here he benched 108kg while only weighing in at 54.6kg.

From there Sean went on to represent Great Britain at the Para Powerlifting World Cup where he competed against the world’s best and achieved a new PB of 116kg.

Sean Clare left us with this teaser, “In recent training I hit 130kg, I can’t wat to compete again to see what I can push.”

Connect with Sean

We’re sure Sean would love for you to show your support by following him on social media. See the list below for ways you can connect with him.

Sean is also the co-host of the new “Small Talk” podcast, “a conversation about mental health within athletes, para-athletes and everyone else.” We’ll give you the link so you can check that out too!