Gladiator Fury takes on coal carrying championship

Gladiators star Jodie Ounsley was only three years old when she watched in awe as her dad trudged through the garden with an enormous sack of coal slung over his shoulders.

Little did she know that it was part of his training for the annual World Coal Carrying Championships, but that did not stop her curiosity.

Eager to in, she grabbed a sack of carrots instead and sprinted around the kitchen - her own mini version of the challenge.

Having won the children's race five times at the West Yorkshire event, the former rugby union player is now setting her sights on the women's event.

Monday's event in Gawthorpe, near Ossett, sees runners haul sacks of coal across a distance of 3,320ft (1,012m).

Traditionally, men carried 7st 12lb (50kg) sacks of coal and women carried 3st 2lb (20kg) from the Royal Oak pub to the village's Maypole Green.

Jodie, known to many as Fury for her role on the BBC One show Gladiators, is looking forward to the challenge, albeit a little apprehensively.

"I'm just thinking 'what am I getting myself into"A view of the outside of Wakefield One, Wakefield Council's headquarters building. " class="sc-d1200759-0 dvfjxj"/>