Brittany Diamond Age: 25 Location: Boston, MA Gig: Sales & Personal Coach Sport: Strongwoman Competitions STRONGEST WOMAN: Brittany is the third strongest woman in the world, according to the 2017 Olympia Pro Strongwoman competition. As a competitor, she’s no stranger to walking with 240 lbs in each hand, pulling trucks, and lifting massive atlas stones. In 2013 she won first place in her first competition and instantly became hooked on the sport. “I fell in love with the crowd and the way the competitors helped each other out,” she remembers. “I knew I wanted to be 100 percent committed to this beautiful sport.” Since then she has climbed from Novice level to earning her professional status last year.
LaDawn Lataweic STEPHANIE PHOTO JASON ELIES FOR CMT BRITTANY PHOTO MICHELLE WOZNIAK LADAWN PHOTO ERIC KNAPE
Age: 28 Location: Kelowna, British Columbia Gig: Entrepreneur Sport: Weightlifting, Fitness, Soccer HONEST MOTIVATOR: After graduating from university, LaDawn stepped on the scale to find she weighed in at 190 lbs with 35 percent body fat. It came as a shock to the life-long athlete who admits that even though she always led an active lifestyle, her nutrition habits left something to be desired. Determined to make changes, LaDawn signed up for a 12-week fitness challenge in 2015 and has never looked back. Revealing that she was previously intimidated by the thought of lifting weights for fear of “getting big,” LaDawn has smashed that stigma by hitting the iron four to six times per week. “I crave weights,” she says. “I’m always pushing for bigger PRs in the gym.” But in October 2016, tragedy struck when LaDawn’s brother
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passed away. Afraid she would fall into her old habits of binge eating and depression, she knew she had to find a healthier way to cope. After taking a few weeks off from the gym to grieve, LaDawn committed to making working out a safe and healing activity for her. “Nothing can fully heal the pain from losing someone, but it made a huge difference for me.” Now, LaDawn is working to build her online fitness presence to motivate others to find their best selves, preaching honesty and promoting confidence. “Fitness makes you comfortable in your own skin, helps you feel like a badass, and can even strengthen your relationships,” she begins. “I hope my presence in the industry will make a difference in people’s lives.”
A former runner, Brittany was introduced to lifting weights while attending University of Rhode Island on a rowing scholarship, and something just clicked. “Rowing taught me how to push my body to its limit, but lifting fired me up. I couldn’t get enough.” After her breakout performance at her first competition, a local gym owner urged her to find the confidence to compete at the national level. Now, Brittany is determined to maintain her title of World’s Strongest Woman in two lined-up shows, and she’ll appear as a guest speaker at events dedicated to educating others on how to take on strongwoman competitions for themselves.
“I want to motivate people by having fun and being 100% real.”
@ Find out how you could be the next Woman to Watch at strongfitnessmag.com
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2017-12-06 3:21 PM