IT WAS third time lucky for Micky Yule as he finally got his hands on a Commonwealth Games medal.

The para powerlifter had finished fourth at the competition in Glasgow in 2014 before matching the feat four years later on Australia’s Gold Coast.

Despite those disappointments, Yule went into Birmingham 2022 boosted by the best result of his career last summer.

He took bronze in the Paralympic Games in Tokyo, to add to his European titles.

Yule knew the host city well, having been flown back home via Birmingham Airport and treated at Queen Elizabeth Hospital after stepping on an improvised explosive device (IED) while on army duty in Afghanistan in 2010.

The 43-year-old said: “I was going to be the nearly-man of the Commonwealth Games. I was in the mindset tonight that there was no way that was happening. I have too many family [members] here.

“I brought that intensity today. I wanted to go out and show that whole place. Everybody knew what I was going to do. What an atmosphere.

“It’s amazing – I finally got that bronze medal. It’s a weight off my shoulders and I couldn’t be happier.

“Whenever people say the name of this city, I thought of the hospital, and it was amazing and I’m grateful to it.

“But now when people say Birmingham, I think of these games and this city gave me a life – that’s the thing. And now I have something to live for.”

The Wallyford athlete had spoken before the Commonwealth Games about feeling good going into the men’s heavyweight final last Thursday evening.

With no injuries, his confidence proved justified as his best lift of 197 kilogrammes was enough to take bronze.