A STUDENT is hoping to go all the way and be crowned England’s strongest woman.

Hannah Newman, 25, from Chingford, always thought the gym was a “bit boring” but surprised herself after stumbling across a strong woman competition few years ago.

Hannah hasn’t looked back and is now on her way to the England Strongest Woman competition at Bloodstock Heavy Metal Festival on August 11.

The student has managed juggling preparation for the big event while studying for a PhD in sports psychology at Loughborough University.

East London and West Essex Guardian Series:

Go on Hannah!

Her first hurdle came at the qualifying stage at the Midlands Strongest Woman competition in March, when she came in overweight for her category.

Describing her anguish, Hannah said: “I was meant to be competing as a middle weight and when I got there on the day I was 2kg over.

“I spent an hour trying to sweat off the weight but I couldn’t do it and ended up competing as a heavy weight, which I hadn’t done before.

“I was up against people a lot bigger than me but I managed to get through.

“So I’ll have to be competing as a heavyweight next month.

“It is daunting because the weights are lot heavier.”

Hannah said she is a mixture of “excited” and “nervous” ahead of the big competition.

And she has every right to be nervous, she’ll be up against Donna Moore, the current holder of the world’s strongest woman title.

Hannah thinks more women should be getting into the sport, which has kept surprising her since she started.

She said: “As well as the thrill of competing and the excitement of doing things you couldn’t before, it is the community in the sport which has surprised me the most.

“I’ve never encountered it before. Even when you are in competitions, the people you are up against are cheering you on.

“It’s been something to get my head around as a competitive person.

“The atmosphere and the support from everybody both in training and at competitions is something quite special.”