A woman once dubbed the "World's Strongest Girl" for being able to lift four times her own body weight at the age of 14 comes from a legendary Ukrainian family.
Varya Akulova, now 30, went viral as a teenager for her impressive strength, which seemed even more extraordinary considering her slight frame and small muscles at the time.
Her parents noticed their daughter, also nicknamed "Girl Hercules", was unusually strong when she was just a toddler and the youngster began competing in and winning power-lifting competitions at the age of seven.
When she turned 10, she managed to flip her 17-and-a-half stone father Uri while wrestling, reports The Star.
Varya, who has broken a number of world records, was born in the small Ukrainian mining town of Krivoy Rog in Varya, to Uri - a circus performer and Larisa.
According to local reports, she descends from the Akulov family lineage which served Catherine III, also known as Catherine the Great.
Catherine was the last empress of Russia, as well as the longest-reigning, having been in power for 34 years.
She is credited as being the one to “westernise” Russia in the mid-1700s.
Catherine had the Akulov family fighting for her in her army during the Russia-Turkish wars – of which there were many during that period.
And that lineage continued to show strength through the generations, as Varya's great-grandfather managed the astonishing feat of carrying 2,600lbs on his back in 1910 and her mother Larisa is also stronger than most women.
Varya's feats as a teenager seem even more incredible when you learn she was living on noodles and water at the time as that was all the family could afford.
Incredibly she was just 5ft tall and weighed just over eight stone, but now looks unrecognisable as she goes from strength to strength in boxing, kickboxing, wrestling and circus juggling training.
Varya's diet has improved over the years and she now eats one egg, a glass of juice and bread for breakfast, bread and a cup of tea for lunch and for dinner she tucks into macaroni noodles and occasionally some meat.
Speaking about her strength, she recently said: “I do not take steroids, I only take multivitamins.
“I wish I could be big, really big: 190cm tall and weigh more than 100kg, like my dad.”
On top of her physical strength, which she uses in regular circus performances, she was also a top student and learned to read aged just three.
