A power couple proved they have the strongest relationship in Europe after they both bagged the top prize in their respective strength championships - on the same day. Josh Lancaster and Mollie Wagstaff fought off tough competition to claim gold in the Arnold Classic Strong Man and Strong Woman events in Seville, Spain.
Taking place on September 16, 33-year-old Mollie was stunned to discover she’d taken the top spot in the under 75kg category event, edging out “Germany’s strongest woman”. While husband Josh, 31, admitted to feeling “secretly jealous'' of his partner’s achievements, he later stormed to victory himself in the under 80kg weight class.
Far from revelling in his success, Josh, who weighs 79kg, entered the under 90kg men’s competition the following day, where he finished seventh, while Mollie took their three-year-old daughter out for the day. Their success is all the more impressive by breaking the stereotype of having to eat lots of meat, with Josh becoming a vegetarian four years ago.
“I just felt so satisfied and amazed,” Josh said. “Your adrenaline gets going when you support someone, and then once it was finished, I was exhausted.
“I felt, 'I can’t match that in terms of excitement.' I didn’t think I had much of a chance of matching what she did. And I just couldn’t believe it when I did.
“I suppose I’d been preparing for the competition really for about six years - since I gave up other sports to pursue strongman as the main thing. And going with Mollie, it was great that we had an opportunity to compete on the same day, and take our daughter to watch us share that experience."
Mollie took part in five events over a two-hour period, including repeatedly lifting axle bars over her head for a minute and carrying a yoke on her back for 20m (65ft). She said: “It was really close.
“The other girls were incredible. The girl who came second was Germany’s strongest woman, so she was particularly strong.
“I didn’t know if I was first or last until right at the end. I had no idea I had won it, I was just trying my best in each event.”
Josh’s victory came via events such as a 90kg (200lb) log press and flipping a 360kg (800lb) tyre three times in 60 seconds. The victor was also tasked with walking 40m (130ft) with 120kg (260lb) in each hand, and do as many 60kg (130lb) dumbbell reps as he could in one minute.
The vegetarian couple first started dating six years ago after initially bonding over their shared passion of fitness, with Mollie introducing Josh to the elite sport. Now, they live in Lancaster with their daughter Elsie.
To get into the peak of their physical form, they have spent around £50,000 on dedicated equipment throughout their time together. Although Josh, who is a fitness coach, is Mollie’s personal trainer, the pair revealed the secret to their strong relationship is that they never train together.
“Realistically, we never train with each other at all, and we don’t really like training with each other, to be honest,” Josh continued. “I can see how people would burn out with it if they trained with their partner and then went home and were talking about it.
“And I feel like that’s one of the big secrets to keeping it going for such a long time, as obviously the balance is important. We have a gym, our own unit where we’ve bought tens of thousands of pounds of equipment, just so we can train more specifically for the events.
"But we don’t actually like spending time with each other when we’re actually training for the competitions. We communicate a lot about the training via email.
“It’s nice being able to do sport that we both enjoy and excel in, but then just click our fingers and 20 minutes later, we’re going for a walk with our family.” Josh previously smashed a world weightlifting record by becoming the lightest person in history to lift 100kg over his head with one arm, with the dumbbell weighing more than 20% more than his bodyweight.
Mollie, who works out four times a week around her job as an NHS nurse, earned the title of North of England’s Strongest Woman in April. She added: "I really enjoy training – it’s not like a chore.
“It’s 'me time', really. And leading up to competitions, it just becomes more specific to the events in the competitions.”
