A Selby weightlifter who went through a five-part gruelling test of strength and stamina has been crowned the UK’s fifth strongest woman.
Annabelle Chapman, from Selby, went head-to-head with 12 of the country’s strongest ladies at this year’s UK Strongest Woman competition - earning fifth place through pure grit, determination and power. The competition, which was held on August 21 & 22, put the contestants through their paces in five separate challenges - a tire flip, log lift, a sack carry, a truck pull and a five-stone atlas challenge. The tire flip challenge saw each competitor flip a 200-kilogram (440-pound) tire over a distance of 20 meters.
Annabelle was one of only four of the 12 competitors to successfully cross the finish line. She said: “My weekend didn’t start off as I had planned. On day one, I slipped walking out to the first event and injured myself on the impact of the fall. The conditions were not ideal and unfortunately, those are the types of things you simply can’t train for. “To try and mentally refocus after falling and hurting myself was probably the hardest challenge. There was a lot of pressure to make it to the final day and you have to be mentally strong as well as physically to make it through these events.” The second event involved a log lift where each competitor was required to lift weights from 75 kilograms (165 pounds) up to a maximum weight. Annabelle was the only competitor to make it to 120 kilograms (264 pounds), taking the victory in this round. Her lift was shy of just 15 kilograms to that of the world record and she “still had more in the tank”. Then on to the gruelling sack carry challenge, where each woman had to carry a 100 kilogram (220-pound) sack for distance. Annabelle managed a very impressive 103.45 metres - earning seven points. The fourth, and arguably most insane challenge, saw each lady pull an 8000-kilogram (17,600-pound) truck some distance.
Annabelle managed to pull the truck for 46.34 seconds, earning six points in the process. She said: “The truck pull was something I had never done before and it showed. Again, with slippy conditions, I just tried my best to get the truck moving but it’s definitely a lesson I’ll take away for next time.” ‘Stones of Strength’ was the name of the final challenge. Each competitor was tasked with lifting five atlas stones between 85 kilograms (187 pounds) and 145 kilograms (319 pounds). Annabelle finished fourth in this round, lifting four of the five stones in 56.97 seconds. In the end, Annabelle took the fifth spot with a total of 43 points, with her opponent a sizeable 14.5 points behind in the sixth place. Rebecca Crumpsty, who was awarded fourth place, was just 0.5 points ahead of Annabelle when the competition came to a close. She said: “I felt the injury, from when I fell, throughout the day, which meant I didn’t place well but still managed to get through to the final day, which was amazing. I managed to claw my way back to fifth place even with an injury. “I was happy with the results. I fought hard after the injury to put on a good show, so I’m happy with how everything went. I could have done without the slip though”, she laughed. Annabelle’s not putting the weights down anytime soon, with another competition on the agenda just a mere three weeks after this one - which is to be held in Dubai. She is also set to fight for the title of Britain’s Strongest Woman on September 19 in Doncaster and World’s Strongest Woman later in the year. To follow Annabelle’s journey, you can visit her Instagram page at annabelle_chapman93.
Annabelle is set to compete for the title of Britain’s Strongest and World’s Strongest Woman later this year. (26-08-65 SU)
