The time has come for some of the strongest women in the world to gather and compete against each other at the 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic. The first out of two days took place on February 28th in Columbus, Ohio. It featured 12 incredible athletes who battled each other across three events. In the end, Andrea Thompson was the one who took the lead going into the second day.
The 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic marks the eighth edition of the competition, and it is clearly bigger than ever before. This was clear on the very first event of the day, as Lucy Underdown and Andrea Thompson battled each other for the Elephant Bar Deadlift World Record. After going back and forth for multiple attempts, Lucy ended up taking the event win and the World Record.
Moving on to the second event, multiple women ended up with the same result, having lifted multiple heavy implements over their heads. So, they had to be separated by a tiebreaker, after which Angelica Jardine turned out to be the event winner. The final event was also extremely interesting, as Rebecca Roberts had to repeat her attempt but still managed to take the win.
2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic Results Day OneSu
- Andrea Thompson — 30 points
- Olga Liashchuk — 29 points
- Inez Carrasquillo — 27.5 points
- Rebecca Roberts — 23.5 points
- Angelica Jardine — 22 points
- Lucy Underdown — 21 points
- Jennifer Lyle — 17 points
- Nadia Stowers — 14 points
- Erin Murray — 12.5 points
- Melissa Peacock — 11.5 points
- Sam Belliveau — 11 points
- Gabi Dixson — 9 points
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Event Recap
Event One — Elephant Bar Deadlift
The 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic opened up with one of the most iconic lifts — the deadlift. However, it was performed with an Elephant Bar, which is longer and more flexible than the standard one. This brought in a new variation of the movement. On the other hand, the task was simple, as the women had to establish a one-rep max. They had three attempts to do so.
The first event at the 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic brought an incredible battle among the women, as two of them exceeded the prior World Record. The two women who were pushing the world standard were Lucy Underdown and Andrea Thompson. However, Lucy Underdown ended with the heaviest pull of the day, locking out 676 pounds (306.6 kilograms) and setting a new World Record. It is important to note that Lucy had some problems with her lifting straps, which definitely hindered her concentration on the lift, but still managed to lock it out.
Andrea Thompson definitely pushed Lucy to her limits, having locked out 671 pounds (304.4 kilograms) on her second deadlift attempt. Andrea did try to push the record even further, loading 686 pounds (311.2 kilograms) for her final attempt. She managed to get the bar up to her knees but was unable to lock it out.
Jennifer Lyle made her debut at the 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic and immediately impressed everyone. Her deadlifting abilities proved to be better than those of many other elite Strongwomen. Lyle’s heaviest deadlift came out to 651 pounds (295.3 kilograms), but she looked like she was capable of doing more.
- Lucy Underdown — 676-lb (306.6-kg) [World Record]
- Andrea Thompson — 671-lb (304.4-kg)
- Jennifer Lyle — 651-lb (295.3-kg)
- Olga Liashchuk — 626-lb (284-kg)
- Rebecca Roberts — 611-lb (277.2-kg)
- Inez Carrasquillo — 611-lb (277.2-kg)
- Angelica Jardine — 601-lb (272.7-kg)
- Melissa Peacock — 561-lb (254.5-kg)
- Erin Murray — 561-lb (254.5-kg)
- Gabi Dixson — 546-lb (247.7-kg)
- Samantha Belliveau — 521-lb (236.3-kg)
- Nadia Stowers — 441-lb (200-kg)
Event Two — Overhead Gauntlet
After a bit of rest time, the women moved on to the second event of the 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic. It was the complete opposite of the first one, as it focused mainly on the upper body strength of the athletes. In turn, the competitors were tasked with lifting a 70-kg (154.3-lb) Dumbbell, 79-kg (174.2-lb) Stone, after which they faced a choice whether to lift a 100-kg (220.5-lb) Log for reps or a 122-kg (269-lb) Log for reps.
The event was scored in points with the Dumbbel, Stone, and lighter Log carrying 1 point each, while a rep with the heavier log was worth 10 points.
The second event of the 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic ended in a three-way for first place. Namely, Jardine, Thompson, and Liashchuk all lifted the Dumbbell, Stone, and then performed two reps with the heavier Log. In turn, their results were identical, receiving 22 points each. However, the time needed to complete the reps was used as a tiebreaker. Consequently, Angleica Jardine took the win as the fastest woman, Andrea Thompson placed second, while Olga Liashchuk settled for third.
As far as the other competitors go, the majority struggled with the first two implements. Three of them were unable to lift the Dumbbell, while an additional four athletes got stuck at the stone. So, the second event showed a large separation between the athletes. Most notably, the winner of the first event, Lucy Underdown, walked away with zero points, as she was unable to lift the first implement.
- Angelica Jardine — 22 points
- Andrea Thompson — 22 points
- Olga Liashchuk — 22 points
- Inez Carrasquillo — 12 points
- Nadia Stowers — 3 points
- Samantha Belliveau — 1 point
- Melissa Peacock — 1 point
- Erin Murray — 1 point
- Rebecca Roberts — 1 point
- Lucy Underdown — No Lift
- Jennifer Lyle — No Lift
- Gabi Dixson — No Lift
Event Three — Timber Carry
The last event of the day was a quick but painful one. Specifically, the women had to pick up a 265-kilogram (584.2-pound) wooden frame and carry it for a distance of 11 meters. It is important to note that the platform was set at a slight incline. The goal of the event was to cross the finish line in the shortest time possible.
Rebecca Roberts made her attempt, and her time came out to 8.5 seconds. However, her time was then scratched due to some rules, meaning that she had to come out and perform the event as well. Her performance took an unexpected turn, as Rebecca ended up being even faster the second time around. Her time came out to 7.56 seconds, which was more than enough to take the win.
The Frame Carry caused a lot of problems for Inez Carrasquillo last year, as she fell and hit her face on the edge. So, she came to get revenge this year and ended up finishing in second place with a blistering run and a time of 8.34 seconds. So, it safe to say that she walked away pleased after her performance.
The battle for third place came down to an incredibly small margin. Specifically, Lucy Underdown finished in a time of 9.48 seconds. Then, going a few minutes after her, Olga Liashchuk crossed the line in 9.47 seconds, literally just a fraction of a second faster than Lucy.
- Rebecca Roberts — 0:07.56 seconds
- Inez Carrasquillo — 0:08.34 seconds
- Olga Liashchuk — 0:09.47 seconds
- Lucy Underdown — 0:09.48 seconds
- Andrea Thompson — 0:09.99 seconds
- Jennifer Lyle — 0:11.07 seconds
- Gabi Dixson — 0:11.55 seconds
- Nadia Stowers — 0:19.63 seconds
- Angelica Jardine — 0:22.70 seconds
- Erin Murray — 18′ 1″
- Samantha Belliveau — 14′ 8″
- Melissa Peacock — 13′ 5″
Watch day one livestream here:
Related: Mateusz Kieliszkowski Withdraws From 2025 Arnold Strongman Classic
Remaining Events
- 10:00 AM EST — Women’s Event 4: The Big Jerk
- 12:50 PM EST — Women’s Event 5: Timber Trial
- 3:25 PM EST — Women’s Event 6: Atlas Stone to Shoulder
Prize Purse Breakdown
- 1st Place: $25,000
- 2nd Place: $15,000
- 3rd Place: $10,000
- 4th Place: $8,000
- 5th Place: $5,000
- 6th Place: $4,000
- 7th Place: $3,000
- 8th Place: $2,500
- 9th Place: $1,500
- 10th Place: $1,000
The 2025 Arnold Strongwoman Classic is clearly one of the biggest shows of the year, which is why all of the competitors are hoping to finish as high on the leaderboards as possible. To do so, it is imperative for them to have a decent start on the first day of the competition. However, a lot still remains to play out on the second day as well.
Previous Arnold Strongwoman Champions
- 2024: Angelica Jardina
- 2023: Victoria Long
- 2022: Victoria Long
- 2020: Olga Liashchuk
- 2019: Olga Liashchuk
- 2018: Donna Moore
- 2017: Leifia Ingalls
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