A Hull athlete who was once warned she might never walk again after a devastating fracture is set to compete in the European Championships in York and the World Championships in the USA.
Nikki Ellerington, 46, from east Hull, has been having a triumphant year after coming third place at the Official Strongman English Weekend of Strength in February, and fourth place in the Official Strongman Britain’s Strongest Woman in May. Last December, Nikki came in eighth place in the World Finals of the Official Strongman Games in West Virginia.
It is an incredible achievement for a woman who was once told she may never walk again and have to give up rugby after her ankle snapped “like a matchstick” during a Hull Wyke Ladies game.
At a height of 5’9″ and weighing 73kg, Nikki competes in the 73kg and under category. Talking after her recent successes, Nikki told Hull Live: “It’s going really well – and that’s competing with women that are probably about 15 years or more younger than me, so it’s quite a big achievement.”
The mum-of-four added: “I thought I’d messed up – when I’m competing I never look at the results. I just do my best, and then I’m not putting too much pressure on myself. I honestly thought I’d really messed up on one of the overhead lifts.
(Image: Richard Ellerington)
“However, it got to the stone run – where you put stones on the bollards – and that pulled me back the points. I was really shocked and I came third. It was brilliant.”
Nikki now has the European Championships in York on August 2 and 3. In November, she will be in Texas for the Official Strongman world championships. For this contest, she will be in “a bit of a nicer category” because she will be competing against other women in the same weight group aged 40-plus.
The star weightlifter has set up a Crowdfunder to help her get to the world championships. “I’m just trying to raise funds now to get out there because it is equipment, coaching, travel, it adds up,” she said. “It is not a very well-funded sport and it is hard to get sponsorship as well, with the women’s side of it still being underneath the men’s side.”
(Image: Richard Ellerington)
Talking about how women’s weightlifting gets much less media exposure than men’s, Nikki said: “It is up-and-coming and it definitely gets better every year, but it is very slow.
“A lot of the bigger companies prefer to sponsor men because it is on TV, or it’s on YouTube channels a lot more than the female side of it.” She added: “I always want to advocate women in sport and body image, and how what you look like really doesn’t matter.”
For her “very strict” training regime, Nikki has to get up at 4:15am. Four to five times a week, she is at the gym by 4:30am and then trains for 90 minutes.
She eats between 2,000 and 3,000 calories daily including “lots of protein and vegetables” and has to be careful to not lose weight which will weaken her or gain weight, which could see her not qualify for her category. Nikki’s go-to foods include oats, chicken and rice, minced beef and potatoes, Greek yoghurt, rice cakes, fish, nuts, and apples.
Nikki said: “Some people assume the Strongman is like bodybuilding and you have to be so strict, but there is a little bit more leeway with Strongman because you’ve got to have power to fuel your way through events. I do think the bodybuilding regime is a lot, lot harder and is something I certainly admire people for doing because I would not be able to be that strict. There is always space to go out for a pizza with your mates if you want to as well.”
Nikki hopes to get company sponsorship and said logos can be printed on her t-shirts and shorts. “That would be not just in York, but in America as well,” she added. Nikki wanted to thank her husband, Richard Ellerington, who has been a massive support in her weightlifting journey.