Path to powerlifting success helps Steffie banish the bullies
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AN inspirational Buckie sportswoman has been celebrating another sterling performance at Ultimate Strongman’s Scotland’s Strongest Woman contest.
July 2 saw Steffie Murray, who originally hails from Portgordon but now lives in Buckie, travel down to Grangemouth with her partner, Tommy, to go toe to toe with some of the strongest women in the country.
She improved on last year's creditable fifth place by coming fourth, only just missing out on a podium place by an agonising 2.5 points.
Her success came as she opened up in moving a documentary about her journey to strongwoman competitions after brutal and sadistic bullying as a child saw her turn her back on her love of sport.
She said: "I am really chuffed with my performance and coming so close to a podium finish against the toughest line up of athletes ever in this competition.
"I travelled down with my partner, Tommy, and had several people in the crowd from Buckie cheering me on!
"Also, I had the added pressure of having Stirling University filming me for a documentary, Strongwoman, which follows my life as a strongwoman from Buckie and what it takes to be one of the strongest woman in Scotland.
"I competed against seven of the strongest women in Scotland in five gruelling tests of strength including a 100kg duckwalk for 60m, deadlift, 70kg log press (which I placed second with 11 reps), 25kg anvil hold for time and the stones of strength – 70kg up to 130kg atlas stones lifted to 54-inch high barrels.
"This event will be televised next year on Sky Sports."
In the documentary, the 35-year-old talks about how strongwoman training and competition has proved to be a lifeline which helped her out of a very dark time in her life.
In an often emotional account, Steffie said: "I never envisaged myself years ago competing for the Scotland's Strongest Woman title, it means a great deal to me.
"I've loved sports but when you're made to feel like there's something wrong with you and you're ugly and worthless you don't really want to show off any more. I loved being the best at sports but I got taunted in the changing rooms, I'd get things thrown at me, I got spat at. Nothing was ever really done about it so I just dropped out of sports.
"I remember how sad it made me feel; all I wanted to do was fit in and be normal, but I didn't know how.
"It got so bad that I didn't want to be here any more. Those girls made me feel so worthless I didn't feel like I had a right to be alive.
"I first got into the gym through a work colleague who was going to a local boot camp, I was really out of shape, I wasn't feeling very good about myself and I wasn't very social so I did a very scary things and said 'I'll go with you'. I then discovered I was quite strong, I could lift heavier weights than all the ladies and the men, I could lift heavier [weights] than the instructors so I got interested in weightlifting.
"When I had that light bulb moment that I wanted to do weightlifting it was actually during one of my first competitions, which was Highland's Strongest Women and it wasn't until I was in the middle of an event that I heard my mum screaming out my name, to go and keeping going and get that next rep and to win.
"It meant a great deal because I'd hated myself for so long, I hated having a female body and now I liked being in this body, it was strong, it was powerful."
After leaving school, art school was not the sanctuary she thought to was going to be and she became bulimic. She also suffered a serious sexual assault which she said "absolutely devastated me...I thought it was my fault, if I'd just been strong enough".
She added: "Strongwoman has given me my life back, it has rekindled that joy I had for sports.
"It's given me belief back in myself that I'm allowed to take up space."
Steffie went on to build her strongwoman prowess, initially with the help of local gym Wright Fitness.
WATCH Steffie's full story HERE.
She can also be followed at https://www.facebook.com/SteffieScottishStrongwoman and on Instagram – @dawnstrength88
