On Mar. 12, 2023, the Giants Live organization confirmed some of the initial competitors set to duke it out at the 2023 BSW. A slew of world-class champions are lined up to vie for the title including 2021 World’s Strongest Woman and 2022 UK’s Strongest Woman Rebecca Roberts, 2022 England’s Strongest Woman and former Britain’s Strongest Woman Lucy Underdown, and three-time World’s Strongest Woman (2016-2017, 2019) Donna Moore.

At the time of this writing, specific events have not been revealed, but organizers Giants Live have stated athletes will be tasked with a total of five events, the details of which are likely to be announced in the future.

Here is the current BSW roster as it stands:

2023 Britain’s Strongest Woman Roster

• Rebecca Roberts
• Lucy Underdown
• Andrea Thompson
• Rhianon Lovelace
• Donna Moore

Just five athletes have been confirmed for the BSW at the time of this article’s publication. With 12 athletes expected to appear on contest day, more big names should come out as contest day approaches.

The five already-announced competitors come with some seriously impressive resumes. All competition information is courtesy of Strongman Archives.

Underdown won a Britain’s Strongest Woman title under a different organizing body from this year’s competition, and she has finished on the podium in three of her last five strongwoman appearances.

Current Log Lift World Record holder Andrea Thompson (140 kilograms/308.6 pounds) is a 2018 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW) champion. She was also the runner-up at that prestigious contest in 2022.

Rhianon Lovelace’s laundry list of accomplishments seemingly never ends. She holds the U64 Atlas Stone World Record (146.8 kilograms/324 pounds), the U64 Axle Press World Record (101 kilograms/222.6 pounds), the Axle Deadlift World Record (261.5 kilograms/576.5 pounds), and the deadlift World Record (282.5 kilograms/623 pounds). Lovelace is also a two-time U64 WSW winner (2018, 2022).

Finally, Rebecca Roberts was the 2021 WSW champion, the 2022 UK’s Strongest Woman, and most recently finished in second place at the 2023 Arnold Strongwoman Classic (ASC). Last but absolutely not least, Donna Moore claims three WSW titles to her name (2016-2017, 2019) along with the title of UK’s Strongest Woman in 2021.

Even when Giants Live adds more competitors to the BSW slate, it’s apparent this field already presents a gauntlet of superstars and icons.

The 2023 BSW will showcase many of the most powerful titans in strongwoman. Whoever comes out with the best performance will earn a title more than worthy of the British Isles.

Featured image: @giantslivestrongman on Instagram

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On Dec. 7-8, 2022, the Arnold Sports Festival Instagram page revealed the respective Men’s and Women’s rosters for the 2023 ASC, scheduled to take place on March 2-5, 2023.

On the Men’s side, some noteworthy confirmed competitors include two-time defending World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Tom Stoltman and 2022 Giants Live World Tour Finals champion Mitchell Hooper. On the Women’s side, powerlifter Tamara Walcott — the deadlift and total World Record holder in the 90-plus kilogram division — will make her strongwoman debut. Meanwhile, current Log Lift World Record holder, former World’s Strongest Woman (WSW) champion (2018), and 2022 WSW runner-up Andrea Thompson will try to parlay her recent momentum into a victory.

Here’s an overview of both rosters for the 2023 ASC:

2023 Arnold Strongman Classic Roster | Men

• Tom Stoltman (United Kingdom)
• Mitchell Hooper (Canada)
• Trey Mitchell (United States)
• Mateusz Kieliszkowski (Poland)
• Pavlo Nakonechnyy (Ukraine)
• Luke Stoltman (United Kingdom)
• Rob Kearney (United States)
• Maxime Boudreault (Canada)
• Tom Evans (United States)
• Bobby Thompson (United States)

2023 Arnold Strongman Classic Roster | Women

• Tamara Walcott (U.S. Virgin Islands)
• Andrea Thompson (United Kingdom)
• Olga Liashchuk (Ukraine)
• Inez Carrasquillo (Puerto Rico)
• Melissa Peacock (Canada)
• Hannah Linzay (United States)
• Nadia Stowers (United States)
• Victoria Long (United States)
• Samantha Belliveau (Canada)
• Donna Moore (United Kingdom)

For the Men, the reigning champion Martins Licis will not appear to defend his title. Nor will the 2022 runner-up Oleksii Novikov. Overall, the Men’s field has four challengers taking vacated roster spots from the 2022 edition — Hooper, Mateusz Kieliszkowski, Pavlo Nakonechnyy, and Tom Evans.

Notably, Kieliszkowski returns to the ASC after notching two consecutive podium finishes in 2019-2020. Luke Stoltman and Bobby Thompson also return after tying for third place in 2022. Someone like Hooper — who won two of his last three strongman appearances to close out 2022 — may make noise, too. That respective group could make for a fascinating battle, should any of them improve upon their past results.

Meanwhile, top contenders for the Women’s title might include 2022 WSW champion Olga Liashchuk, three-time WSW winner Donna Moore (2016-2017, 2019), and Thompson. With no established precedent at a strongwoman contest, it’s difficult to ascertain how an athlete like Walcott might fare. However, her unique strength could make her a potential dark horse, too.

2022 ASC Events

Shortly after the official rosters were announced, the Arnold Sports Festival revealed the event lineup — which is notably the same for both the men’s and women’s fields. The events are as follows:

There’s still plenty of time before the 2023 ASC officially launches. That means all bets could be off as these star-studded rosters of elite strongpeople try to shine in Columbus in March.

Featured image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram

The post 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic Rosters Revealed appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

To help her with her log lift feat, Thompson donned a lifting belt, knee sleeves, elbow sleeves, and wrist wraps. The athlete shared an Instagram post featuring her complete log lift performance. Her successful lockout with the record-breaking weight can be seen in the fourth video below:

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Andrea Thompson (@andreathompson_strongwoman)

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Thompson’s output at the 2022 WLLC was so successful she extended her past World Record on her third attempt of the day. The athlete pressed 137.5 kilograms (303.1 pounds) and, evidently, with more strength left in the tank, went for the hallowed 140-kilogram figure on her fourth try. A confident beaming smile from Thompson as she appeared to wait for a down signal from the official might have told a perfect story of the athlete’s feelings at the moment.

Before notching her latest World Record, Thompson had trained with 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) Laurence Shahlaei. Thompson had notably called her shot during a recent YouTube exercise session with Shahlaei, saying she “would break the record, then go for 140 kilograms.”

In a post on her Instagram, Thompson thanked the former ESM champ for “always believing” in her. Meanwhile, the comments of Thompson’s log lift World Record post feature words of praise from notable figures in strongman/strongwoman congratulating the athlete for her milestone — including Paul Smith, Annabelle Chapman, and Lucy Underdown.

 

View this post on Instagram

 

A post shared by Andrea Thompson (@andreathompson_strongwoman)

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Thompson’s new record adds to a noteworthy catalog of accomplishments as a strongwoman. In addition to a first-place result at the 2018 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW), the athlete was in possession of the strongwoman deadlift World Record of 290 kilograms (639.4 pounds). The successful pull happened at the October 2020 edition of the WUS Feats of Strength Series. Underdown went on to break that record during the 2022 Britain’s Strongest Woman contest.

Thompson has written that her next competitive appearance would be at the 2022 Official Strongman Games. That competition will take place on Nov. 11-13, 2022, in Daytona Beach, FL. According to Strongman Archives, if Thompson finishes on the podium, it will be her fifth appearance in the top three in her last seven contests dating back to December 2018.

As the sample size of Thompson’s illustrious career shows, anything might be possible.

Featured image: @andreathompson_strongwoman on Instagram

The post Strongwoman Andrea Thompson Sets Log Lift World Record of 140 Kilograms (308.6 Pounds) appeared first on Breaking Muscle.

On Sept. 30, 2022, Laurence Shahlaei, 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM), posted two videos to his YouTube channel where he trained shoulders and legs respectively with the athlete. In the former video, Thompson revealed she would soon make another attempt at the strongwoman Log Lift World Record at the 2022 World Log Lift Championships in Ipswich, UK. Notably, with a successful lockout, Thompson would be extending her own record mark of 135 kilograms (297.6 pounds) from the 2020 World’s Ultimate Strongman “Feats of Strength” Series.

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In the first legs video, after finishing some cardio (the treadmill for Shahlaei; an air bike for Thompson), the pair got after it with some safety bar squats. Thompson logged multiple high-rep sets of 150 kilograms (330.7 pounds). Afterward, the duo continued to seemingly center on endurance, powering through a leg curl and drop set leg press. To cap the routine, Thompson and Shahlaei decided to close with some high-rep leg extensions.

In the second video, it was all about overhead movements as Thompson announced her plans for the new World Record in the process.

To start, Thompson and Shahlaei did a few sets of respective log lifts together. They would finish the sequence by doing three one-rep sets of a massive 122-kilogram (269-pound) log lift. Here, Thompson emphatically noted that her record attempt would be for a significant milestone.

“I’m gonna break the record, then go for 140 kilograms (308.6 pounds),” Thompson told Shahlaei. “You heard it here first.”

Once they finished working through their log lifts, Thompson and Shahlaei shifted over to the viking press. The pair did not disclose what weight they were using, though Thompson capped the segment with an impressive set of 15 reps to showcase her shoulder power and endurance with the movement.

To close this workout, Thompson and Shahlaei focused on preventative maintenance training for different parts of the shoulders. With Thompson nearing a competition, keeping that part of her body healthy appeared imperative.

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The upcoming World Log Lift Championships aren’t the only competition Thompson has on her plate. The athlete will also feature in December’s 2022 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW). At the time of this writing, the precise date and location of the contest have not been announced. Per Strongman Archives, Thompson won the 2018 WSW and finished in third place at the 2019 edition — her last appearance at the competition.

The 2022 calendar year is starting to wind down, but for Thompson, it could be one for the record books by the time the clock strikes midnight in January 2023.

Featured image: Big Loz Official on YouTube

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