Lottie McGuinness


Charlotte McGuinness is a para powerlifter, who competed at the 2024 Summer Paralympics.

Career

McGuinness started competing in swimming, having been inspired by the 2012 Paralympic Games in London. She was encouraged by Ellie Simmonds to attend the World Dwarf Games. McGuinness took up Paralympic powerlifting in 2019; initially, she could lift. During the COVID-19 pandemic, McGuinness built a gym in a barn next to her home in the Yorkshire Dales. At the 2021 Para Powerlifting World Cup, she came third overall and second in the junior event, lifting.
In 2023, McGuinness won a silver medal at the World Cup. That year, McGuinness competed at the 2023 World Para Powerlifting Championships, finishing ninth.
At the 2024 World Cup event in Tbilisi, McGuinness came fifth with a personal best lift of. Following the event, she qualified for the under-55kg event at the 2024 Summer Paralympics. At the Games, she finished fourth with a best lift of. In July 2025, McGuinness broke the British under-61kg record twice at the Irish Invitational Para Powerlifting Competition. Her best lift was. That month, she finished second at the British Championships behind Olivia Broome, with a best lift of. She was selected to compete at the 2025 World Para Powerlifting Championships, where she was 10th in the under-55kg event with a best lift of.

Personal life

McGuinness is from Harrogate, Yorkshire. She attended Harrogate Ladies' College where she won medals in swimming, athletics, field hockey and basketball. She studied sport and exercise science at Leeds Trinity University. McGuinness has worked part-time for the NHS.