Lovelace continues to push the boundaries of what is expected of strong women.
Rhiannon Lovelace’s pound-for-pound prowess may be unmatched in the current catalog of dynamic strongwomen. The British powerhouse relies on a foundation of sheer pure strength and makes a habit of achieving big any time she has a barbell, an Atlas stone, or just plain heavy equipment in her grasp. In 2023, in one of the first notable competitive performances the strength community saw from Lovelace, she continued her established precedent to amaze.
On January 22, 2023, Lovelace 101-kilogram (222.6-lb) axle press At the 2023 Kaos New Year’s Push/Pull 2023 competition at the Kaos Strength Gym in Preston, England. An astonishing achievement All-time U64 (64-kilogram weight class) world record. More than that, it shows that after the 2022 calendar year, after Lovelace sprinkled in remarkable achievements in several competitions, the athlete is pushing full steam ahead to place her name at the top of the record list anywhere possible.
Lovelace understands her status in the modern strong woman field. As she gears up for another productive year of competitions, the athlete had a brief summary of her axle press record in a post of a lift on her Instagram profile.
“Three weeks to 2023, and we’re already one world record away,” Lovelace wrote. “Big plans this year, just the beginning.”
A two-time U64 World’s Strongest Woman (WSW) champion (2018, 2022), Lovelace has had no qualms about a full-slate, major strongwoman competitions of late. According to this Strongman Archives, the athlete could boast three of four podium finishes in the tentpole WSW main event. The only instance of Lovelace falling short of a top-two finish was during her WSW debut in December 2017.
Outside of WSW parameters, Lovelace has enriched 2022 by all accounts. Last May, the athlete broke the British raw deadlift world record by pulling 241 kilograms (530 pounds) from the 2022 British Powerlifting Union (BPU) competition. She followed that feat by breaking the all-time strongest woman deadlift world record (282.5 kilograms/623 pounds) at the 2022 Berkshire Strongest Competition. Finally, in September 2022 – roughly a month and a half before Lovelace captured his second career WSW Championship – a competitor broke the Axel deadlift world record with a pull of 261.5 kilograms (576.5 pounds) during the 2022 Arnold Strongman (AS) UK.
With this latest axle press notch in her lifting belt, Lovelace looks to pick up where she left off in 2022.
Few of Lovelace’s peers can match what she performs in the gym and in sanctioned competitions. In the coming months of 2023, it seems inevitable that she will continue to soar to mind-blowing heights when it comes to putting on impeccable displays of strength and will.
Featured Image: @rhianon.lovelace.kaosstrength on Instagram
