World's strongest woman 'didn't like sport'

Andrea Thompson won the world's strongest woman title in November [Lauren Carter/BBC] The world's strongest woman has explained how she discovered weightlifting when she decided to shed some pounds before a wedding. Andrea Thompson, from Melton near Woodbridge in Suffolk, reclaimed the title in 2025 and holds records in Hummer tyre deadlift, elephant bar deadlift and log lift. On Wednesday, the 43-year-old was on the judging panel at the UK Armed Forces strongest man and woman competition in Colchester.

She said it was "such an inspiration" to see younger women competing, whereas she had "never been great at sport" in her younger years. She started getting fit for her sister's wedding more than a decade ago. "I've never really been great at sport, mainly field events like javelin and shot put at school, but never really stuck to anything," she explained.

But she had her "stubbornness" to thank for her eventual success. "I'm competing against women who are half my age. I've got two teenage girls so my life is very busy outside of the gym," she said.

Maj Lucia Phillips won the main female title at the contest [Lauren Carter/BBC] About 50 personnel from the Royal Air Force, Royal Navy and the Army were at Colchester's Merville Barracks for the competition final. The first contest was held last year, and this was the first time it had been hosted in Essex. Air specialist Connor Poole, of RAF Honington in Suffolk, was crowned the strongest man, while Maj Lucia Phillips, from the regional occupational health team, triumphed for the women.