World’s Strongest Disabled Woman Erin Harris Aims to ‘Break Barriers’

“I’m in a very male dominated sport, so I just want to show women that you can break these barriers,” stated Erin Harris, a resident of Woodley, Berkshire. Three years prior, Ms. Harris initially joined her local gym with the goal of “lose a few pounds” in preparation for her wedding. By 2024, her journey culminated in her being named the World’s Strongest Disabled Woman. Ms. Harris was born with congenital dysplasia, a condition characterized by one arm being shorter than the other. Recalling her initial steps into the gym, she informed the BBC, “My husband joined with me and he showed me how to walk into the weights room and what to do – the basics really.” She further explained, “About six months into my gym journey I was looking around and realising that I was matching the weights of the men in the room and how actually I’m a little bit stronger than the average woman.” Despite her growing strength, she admitted, “But everything I did was one-handed and actually I thought I wouldn’t get far.” Her path to competitive strongwoman began after she posted a video of herself lifting an axle bar on TikTok. This led to a message from Mark Tanner, the two time World’s Strongest Disabled Man. Ms. Harris recounted, “He messaged me saying ‘you don’t know me, but you need to compete’ – and that was where my journey started.” Ms. Harris expressed that she “fell in love” with the sport, securing her first victory in May 2023, which earned her the title of England’s Strongest Woman. Following this, she claimed the title of Britain’s strongest for two consecutive years. Her remarkable achievement of a “grand slam” occurred on Sunday at the National Exhibition Centre in Birmingham, where she was officially recognized as the World’s Strongest Disabled Woman. “It’s absolutely brutal, but we do it because we love it,” she commented. Beyond achieving “bragging rights,” she voiced her aspiration to serve as a role model for young disabled girls. She reflected on her personal experience, stating, “When I was growing up there wasn’t really anyone that looked like me, there wasn’t anyone around with a little arm like mine so I hid my arm for quite a lot of my life and it wasn’t until I started competing that I grew to accept myself.” For updates, BBC Berkshire can be followed on Facebook, X, or Instagram. Copyright 2024 BBC. All rights reserved. The BBC bears no responsibility for the content found on external sites. Information regarding our approach to external linking is available.