World’s Strongest Girl Varya Akulova was listed twice in the World Guinness Records as the strongest girl on the planet. In 2004, when she was 12, Varya Akulova lifted a total of 350 kg, while her own weight was only 40 kg. The Ukrainian girl lifted a 100 kg barbell for the first time at the age of three. Varya Akulova is 21 now, she has turned into a beautiful lady and she continues to set records in weightlifting. Her next goal is a golden Olympic Medal and the title of the World’s Strongest Woman. Varvara Yurievna Akulova was born in the Ukrainian miner town of Krivoy Rog on 10 January 1992 into a family of circus performers Yuriy Akulov and Larisa Akulova. Varya managed to get a job at a circus with her mother and father when she was 10 years old. Now the family lives in Kiev.

Varvara (Barbara in English) is unique. At the age of one Varya could do a handstand and in a year and half – flips, at three – participated in the genre of circus power acrobatics, at four – did power-lifting exercises and lifted 105 kg. Every year a few pounds were added on to her own weight. At age five she received her first adult level in power-lifting.

Historically the Akulovs family served to Catherine II at the court in Guards regiment, took part in the Russian-Turkish wars and were famous for their outstanding strength abilities. Varvara’s strength genes are received from ancestors.

When her mother gave birth to a daughter, her father realized that his desires of having a strong son would not become real. One day Yuriy thought “Why could a girl not have as much great strength as a man?” When Varya was three years old she joined the circus as gymnast and acrobat. When she was five years old, she already did weight-lifting maneuvers and was revised by doctors to verify the normal growth of her bones and lungs. When she was six years old she could carry her father on her back and could easily lift two kettle-bells (Russian weights) from the floor; this helped her win a lot of weight-lifting events.

When she was twelve years old, she could lift both of her parents on her back and simultaneously lift two kettle-balls from the floor. The family started making appearances in some cities in the Ukraine. They made acrobatic stunts for the public. Some people opposed them. Once a man told them she had to be brought up to the kitchen so she could know how to cook for her future husband. A man argued that if she kept weight-lifting at 16 years old she would look like a man.

Some newspapers in Ukraine wrote negative articles claiming it was bad for a girl to train in athletics. A man from the crowd yelled during a street performance, “No man would marry such a strong woman.” Many people told the family that it was right for a boy to be that strong but a girl had to learn to weave and cook food.

World’s Strongest Girl Varya Akulova

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