I’m Olga Lyashchuk, a professional strongwoman from Ukraine, the World’s Strongest woman 2017 and 2022.
I was born and raised in Donetsk, where my sister and mother are living now. I have been involved in sports since childhood, first running and pole vaulting, in 2001 I became a master of sports in athletics. Then I started playing rugby, and we won the European Championship with the Ukrainian women’s National Rugby 7 Team in 2011.
After that I moved on to strongsport and immediately I’ve got the first success:
- Absolute world champion in strongwoman (Kotka, A Finland, 2074) and Europe deadlift championship (London, 2016).
- Bronze medalist of the European track pull Championship (Chemnitz, Germany, 2015) and the Arnold Classic (Columbus, Ohio, USA, 2016).
- Silver medalist of the European Championship «Europe’s Strongest Woman» (London, 2015). Bronze medalist of the World Championship «the World’s Strongest woman» (Doncaster, United Kingdom, 2016).
- Champion of the Central European Cup (Trencin, Slovakia, 2014-15).
After that, I moved to the high-class pro level: «Arnold Pro Strongwoman» (now these competitions are called» Arnold Strongwoman Classic») – victory 2019-2020, I was the first to win in the women’s Category 2 times «World’s Strongest Woman» – 2021 2nd place with minimal gap.
I was in Kyiv on the beginning of a full-scale war, I was just preparing for the next Arnold Pro Strongwoman 2022 competition, I really wanted to be there, but for this time the road took me 3 days, and it was very difficult, I remember what mood was then in Kyiv, empty streets, everything was closed, no one knew what would happen in a few hours, the battle was already going on the outskirts of the city.
But I received help from other Arnold Pro Strongwoman competitors, they helped me buy new tickets, and in Columbus itself, where I was met by representatives of the Ukrainian diaspora, which was very pleasant and unexpected.
Then in 2022, at Arnold Pro Strongwoman, I took only 4th place, and after the competition, other competitors continued to help me, so they helped me with housing – at first time I lived in Martinsville, Virginia (this city is known for the fact that according to local residents, there is a Big foot in the woods), but a little later, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee, the musical capital of the United States and the world.
In Nashville, I found new opportunities for sports, there are specialized strongsport gyms, such as Redcon1 and Southside Strength, where other professional strongmen like Evan Singleton, have their workouts.
In America my sporting achievements have expanded:
- «World’s Strongest Woman» 2022-first place
- «Shaw Classic Open (Women) – 2022 2nd place, 2023 – first place and title of the Strongest woman on the Earth
- «America’s Strongest Woman» – 2022-2023-second place, 2024-first place, and I am the first Ukrainian and generally the first foreign athlete who was allowed to compete there and who became the America’s Strongest Woman!
- «Arnold Strongwoman Classic» – previously known as Arnold Pro Strongwoman- 2024-2025 – always on the podium
- «Rogue Invitational (Women)» – 2024-for the first time at these competitions and directly to the 2nd place Therefore, if we are talking about the level of the strongsport and the level of the management, America is ahead of other countries in this regard.
And if we talk about the difficulties of life in America, then perhaps the main difficulties are well-known to everyone who came: the first of all is the language, you need to learn it really fast and get used to speak English, yes, the United States is a multinational country where you can hear any languages and accents, but you still need to know English.
It was difficult for me at first here, but I was supported by other athletes and my relatives from Ukraine, so my adaptation was easier.
Also, you need to know how to use a different measurement system, while the only thing that I can quickly recalculate is the pounds to kg, on sports equipment, scales are often indicated in pounds and kg, and therefore, I remembered that 45 pounds is 20.4 kg, and 220 pounds is 100 kg.
But the most difficult thing is still the registration and receiving of various documents and papers, in this regard, everything is done much faster in Ukraine, for example, I waited almost 3 months for my Temporary protected status, but perhaps in other States administrative services are provided faster.
In the end, I will say that life in America is not as easy as it may seem, but if you have a big dream and you are pursuing it, everything becomes possible! Therefore, I wish everyone who moved to the United States for one reason or another success and good luck, I am sure that you will succeed! Be strong! Olga Liashchuk.
Nashville, Tennessee
