ONE of the most famous sporting quotes from Vince Lombardi is “it’s not whether you get knocked down; it’s whether you get up”. The motto is an inspir- ation to countless sportspeople as they attempt to overcome adver- sity, whether it is the footballer striving for a last-minute equaliser or a boxer defying all logic by scrambling back to their feet after a knockdown.

For Scotland’s Michelle Brand, 2015 European Powerlifting Federation champion, it embodies her entire approach to life; she just will not be beaten.

In her late 30s, she suffered a severe back injury after falling from a horse. It could have been devastating but instead, it proved the catalyst that sparked a sporting adventure that will take her to the World Powerlifting Champion- ships in Denver, Colorado, this week, to represent her country.

“I had broken one of the vertebrae within my spine, it was a really bad fall,” she said. “I struggled with movement and I went to see my GP and I went to see a physio, but they both said everything was fine. But I felt as if I could feel something out of alignment in my spine.

“Eighteen months later when I was still in a lot of pain and had very little mobility, I ended up paying to go and see a chiropractor. They X-rayed it and immed- iately diagnosed the fracture.

“The bone had mended back again out of line, so the options were either to go through surgery, which didn’t fill me with enthus- iasm, or they could do manipulations around about it which freed it up and gave me a lot more mobility. After a while I was pain-free too.

“Because I had been immobile by my standards, I piled on a chunk of weight. That’s why I started going to the gym and ultimately why I discovered powerlifting. I wasn’t naturally a gym person – I didn’t like gyms and I didn’t like gym classes. I was an outdoor person who enjoyed hill-walking and horse-riding.

“I started training in the Caley Uni gym and there were a lot of Canadian students there, and powerlifting is huge in Canada. One of them said, half-jokingly, ‘Why don’t you have a crack at a powerlifting competition?’ So I thought, why not?

“I had a go and loved it. I was rubbish, but I fell in love with it from there. I was 39 when I competed for the first time.”

Brand entered the European Championships in 2013 with the lowest of expectations, and emerged, much to her incredulity, with a bronze medal.

“That was a complete shock,” she said. “When I came back from it all I wanted to do was compete in the next year’s competition. That was my sole purpose.

“This year, I won the Europeans in July, but in my head I’ve still got a lot more to do.”

Despite her rapid rise to prom- inence in the sport, Brand is trying her best to temper expectations going into the World Championships.

“If we all lift what we are cap-able of then I’m ranked fourth,” she said. “The top three all squat over 200 kilos, and even if I have a phenomenal day I’ll not lift over 200 kilos. If they don’t have a good day, which is always possible, then you never know.

My attitude is to go there and do my best and see what happens. There’s always a chance. I will win it, if not this time then in the near future.”

Brand’s achievements are all the more remarkable when you consider that she juggles her punishing training regime with a full-time job as a PA at City of Glasgow College. With powerlifting still an amateur sport in the UK though, she has no choice but to raise her own funds to compete.

“There are localised sports councils and you can apply to them for a funding grant, and you can get up to £250 from them a year for international competitions,” she said. “I’ve been lucky enough to get that the last two years from West Dunbartonshire, but that’s it.”

For now, Brand just gets on with the business of getting in the best shape to compete at the highest level, refusing to use such problems as an excuse to cut corners in her training.

It is the sort of attitude that first inspired her to step into the gym after her accident, and she hopes her story can help women both young and old overcome any fears about entering what is often a testosterone-fuelled arena.

“A lot of women find it intim- idating to go to the gym, where it can still be a male-dominated environment,” she said.

“I get a lot of messages through Facebook from young girls and women who have said that they were inspired to get past that from my story, and that is just as rewarding as any medals that I win.”