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Welcome to Top10Archive!
Who said weight lifting and strength-based competitions were just for men?
Uh, sadly, probably a lot of men… but they’d be wrong!
Thanks to events like the World’s Strongest Woman competition – now known as the Strongwoman
World Championships – even women can flash their muscles to the world and, most importantly,
find themselves in an Archive of the top ten strongest women of the world!
Before we get into a list of all the girls that probably could have beat you up in high
school, hit the subscribe button and click the bell to be notified of our next Top 10
Archive!
10.
Brittany Diamond Maybe it’s not a name you’d expect attached
to one of the strongest women in the world, but don’t let Brittany Diamond fool you.
With the ability to deadlift over 300 lbs (136 kg), Diamond chose the perfect path in
life when she happened upon a strongwoman competition in Massachusetts in 2013.
Though she had no training on the technical aspects of being a strongwoman, when she entered
her first State Strongman Championship, she stole the show with a first-place win in the
women’s novice division.
She followed that victory up with a 2014 win in the women’s middleweight division at
the National Strongwoman Competition in Reno, Nevada.
9.
Kristin Rhodes With a lineage that includes famed shot putter
Bill Nieder, Kristin Rhodes had a lot to live up to.
There’s no denying that, over her career, she did her grandfather proud.
In 2006, she entered her first competition in Santa Cruz after training under husband
Donald Allan Rhodes, a fellow strongman competitor.
It wasn’t until 2012, however, that she earned her first major win at the United Strongmen
Women’s World Championship’s, beating out Niina Jumppanen and Anna Rosen.
8.
Abbye Stockton Though her childhood nickname of “Pudgy”
may have stuck, at around 115 lb (52 kg) in her adult years, it couldn’t have been any
further from the truth.
Prior to passing away from complications related to Alzheimer’s disease in 2006, she helped
pave the way for strongwomen today.
During the 1940s, a time when physical competitions for women were practically non-existent, Stockton
spent time with her husband, Les, at Muscle Beach, where she garnered much media attention.
One of her most impressive feats was supporting Les, who averaged 180 lb (81 kg) over her
head in a hand-to-hand stand.
Stockton helped organize the first women’s only sanctioned weightlifting contest, which
was held on February 28th, 1947.
7.
Chen Wei-Ling In her weight class, the tiny Chen Wei Ling
holds several world records, including Squat, Deadlift, and Total, each record averaging
around 335lb (152 kg) to 462lb (210 kg).
In her first Olympic bout, the 2008 Beijing Summer Olympics, Ling initially earned a bronze
medal in the women’s 48 kg weightlifting event but was upgraded to gold when the gold
and silver medalists were disqualified.
In the following year, she competed in the 2009 World Games in Kaohsiung, China and stepped
up with another impressive gold medal. 6.
Jan Todd Today, you’ll likely find Jan Todd exercising
her mind in the classroom as a professor in sports history, philosophy, and ethics.
In 2008, her hard work as a lecturer paid off in the form of becoming a Seward Staley
Honor Lecturer for the North American Society for Sport History.
While we’re very impressed by her academic credentials, we’re not here for her brain
power but rather want to focus on her prolific career as a powerlifter and strongwoman in
the 70s and 80s.
In 1975, she put herself on the map by breaking a 49-year-old Guinness World Record for two-hand
deadlift with a 394 lb (158 kg) lift and since then set more than five additional records.
5.
Robin Coleman You may have seen her in Madea Goes to Jail
or on episodes of Days of Our Lives and The Insider¸ but Robin’s acting career may
not be as impressive as her time as a strongwoman and bodybuilder.
In 1997, she entered the world of strongwomen in the California’s Border States bodybuilding
competition, where she placed first in the novice division and second in the open heavyweight
division.
In 2001, she took her strongwoman career on the road and partook in the 2001 Zambia, Africa
World’s Strongest Woman competition, where she placed third.
4.
Becca Swanson Miss Swanson has many nicknames, like the
Strongest Woman Ever and Strongest Woman in the World, and that may have something to
do with seven world records she set in Squat, Deadlift, Total, and Bench across her weight
class.
Throughout her bodybuilding career, she earned the titles of Ms. Midwest, Ms. Nebraska, and
Ms. Rocky Mountain and became the first and only woman to squat over 800 lbs (362 kg).
Though she holds no strongwoman championship titles, her records can speak for themselves.
3.
Jill Mills When it comes to strongwomen, Mills is amongst
one of the most decorated.
In 1996, she earned her first win at the Alamo Classic, which was followed by a long string
of first-place honors at events like the 1997 USPF Texas State Powerlifting Championship,
the 1998 APF Raw State Championships, and the 1999 IPA Westside Invitational.
In 2001, she entered her first World’s Strongest Woman competition and took home first place,
a feat she repeated in 2002.
In total, Mills has earned 20 first-place victories in a variety of strongwoman events.
2.
Aneta Florczyk In 2006, Aneta became the first woman to place
first more than two times in the World’s Strongest Woman championship.
She followed that record up in 2008 with another win, earning her recognition from the Guinness
World Records for the record of “Most wins of the World’s Strongest Woman.”
Beyond that event, Aneta has enjoyed being the Polish Vice Champion and European Championship
finalist in 2002 and first place winner for the 2004 European Strongest Woman in Northern
Ireland event and 2005 International Norway’s Championship.
In 2007 the strongwoman went viral after rolling a frying pan.
1.
Judy Glenney When people talk about former American National
Weightlifting Champion, Judy Glenney, they typically throw in an aside that she’s considered
the strongest woman in history.
Her competitive powerlifting career has been an impressive one, with nine gold medals won
at the Woman’s National Championships between 1981 and 1995 plus one at the World Master’s
Championships in 1997 and one at the World Masters Games in 1998.
In 1980, she set a national record in the United States for a record snatch at 180 lb
(82.5 kg).
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