An athlete has made history by becoming the first woman from Wales to win the World's Strongest Woman title.
Rebecca Roberts, 26, who is from Bangor in Gwynedd, competed at The Official Strongman Games in the US state of Florida over the weekend.
The event is a festival of strength which sees hundreds of the top Strongman and Strongwoman athletes from 22 countries showcase their abilities across nine different divisions.
Read more : Mum's heartbreaking tribute after sudden death of 14-year-old
Rebecca managed to win all divisions and has now won the title as the World's Strongest Woman in 2021.
Speaking to WalesOnline, the strongwoman champion described the win as "surreal".
"It just has not sunk in yet," she added.
"Sometimes I have to look at my trophy and just check that it's still real. When I heard that I won, I didn't know if I should laugh or smile or cry. I felt ecstatic, proud, and even more so, I was proud to be Welsh."
Rebecca competed at the same event back in 2019, where she reached seventh spot. This time round however, the Welsh athlete felt she had a lot to prove.
She said: "The 2020 competition was obviously cancelled because of Covid. So I had two years to prepare for this. Last time round, I didn't have a good preparation to the competition because I was ill with some kind of chest infection. And on top of that, I was way too overweight and unfit - in some events you had to run around, I wasn't able to complete those events and ended up losing a load of points.
"I vowed to myself that I would never not finish an event again. In those two years, I worked on losing a lot of the excess weight and just coming back a lot fitter, and that's what I did. I lost nine stone - I would get up every morning and go walking, I'd count my calories and make sure that I was fuelling my training. It was hard work but I got there in the end."
Rebecca hopes her win can be an inspiration for others, especially for women and girls.
"I just want to advocate to women that you can do and be whatever you want," she explained.
"When I was younger, I was bullied a lot because I was different. I was taller than everyone else, I was bigger and I had curly hair. They found so many different things to bully me for because I was slightly different.
"I look back now and I realise it has made me the person that I am now. I don't regret what happened but I don't want girls to grow up thinking that because they're different they can't fit in. I want them to know that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything no matter who you are.
"The amount of messages I get from girls that I've helped makes it all worth it for me. Obviously, it's nice to get the trophies but it's even better helping other people. That's what drives me. Hopefully, I can change the stigma around body image, eradicate bullying and create an inclusive environment for everybody no matter their shape or size."
With a win already under her belt, Rebecca is already gearing up for next year's title.
"I want to improve even more and hopefully win again next year - that is the goal," she said.
"My main goal is to be regarded as the strongest woman who has ever lived. I definitely want to win a few times and leave a bit of a legacy."
Get stories like this straight to your inbox with our newsletters.
