World’s fittest teen can lift almost twice her body weight

By Adam Dutton

Meet the world's fittest girl - a 16-year-old record-breaking British teenager who can lift almost twice her own body weight.

Keira McManus has been crowned the world's fittest teen after smashing the gruelling CrossFit Games - for the third year in a row.

The super-fit youngster beat 20 girls from around the world to claim the title in California on July 26 - despite cutting back her training to study for her GCSEs.

Keira spends three hours in the gym and munches down over 3,500 calories each day to keep herself in top shape.

The powerhouse teen can also lift an impressive 265 lbs (18 stone 13 lbs) above her head - almost twice her 69kg (10 stone 12 lbs) body weight.

She took up CrossFit aged just 11 before going on to win her first title in a mixed-gender class at a competition in 2021.

Keira first competed at the CrossFit Games in 2024, winning the 14-15 division before successfully defending her title the following year.

Now she's beaten the top 20 teenage athletes in the world in the 16/17 class at the latest competition.

It makes her the fittest under 18 female on earth and her win also sets a record as she became the first girl to win three consecutive titles at the event.

Fitness fanatic Keira, of Stoke-on-Trent, said: "I've been doing some form of fitness since the age of seven and did my first competition at 11.

"I just fell in love with the sport.

"During Covid I couldn't do my other sports like football so I just focused on CrossFit and fitness with my family.

"It was a huge shock to win again - I have no words.

"The sacrifices and work I've put in over the past couple of months to get this title have been worth it.

"It's really, really hard, the training can be really mentally hard because of how much of yourself you're giving to it.

"Winning it is such a relief as well, knowing it was worth all the hours of training I put in to get to this.

"I had to cut my training down this year because of school and my GCSEs.

"I would get back at 4 p.m. and then be in the gym by 5 p.m. and then I'd get back at 8:30 p.m., every day.

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"I kept my training the same, I just took my work with me to revise on the bike, so I could train and learn.

"My goal now is to just keep training and develop as an athlete - and see how it goes."

CrossFit is a form of high-intensity interval training made up of functional strength and conditioning movements.

Keira competed at the CrossFit games on July 25 and 26, tackling seven punishing workouts.

On the first day she tackled rows with burpees, pull-ups and then hang cleans at 50kg.

Day two saw her lift a hang snatch and snatch complex at 86kg before finishing with the echo bike and thrusters.

The final day saw Keira take on shuttle runs, bar muscle-ups and handstand walks.

Despite weighing just 69kg and standing 5ft 6in tall, Keira can bench press 90kg, clean and jerk 120kg and snatch 90kg.

She trains in the family gym daily, using 5km runs, bikes and various lifts to prepare for the challenging events.

Keira swears by a breakfast of porridge, a banana, a protein shake and a single custard cream to help prepare her for the day.

She consumes more than 150g of protein a day and eats over 1kg of chicken each week.

Sharing her top fitness tips, the teenager said: "Just be willing.

"Don't be intimidated by new classes and exercises as that's where most people fail and quit.

"Sleep is important as it recovers your body the most - nine hours per day to prioritise strength and recovery.

"Fuelling before and after workouts is good to provide the best results. Protein shakes go a long way, but so does a balanced diet.

"It's important to remember you need to eat to perform."

Her dad Joel, 43, said: "I'm very proud of her.

"She first won in 2024, which was a bit of a shock to us as it was her first year and then last year she won it again.

"Then she stepped up and won in her new division, which is unheard of.

"We can't believe it but we're on a winning streak, she's such a high-level athlete.

"Everyone sees her potential, our objective is to see what we can do at the elite levels in the adult women's category and see how far she'll go."