Northern Ont. strongwoman powering her way to a national championship
You don’t want to mess with Chantal Routhier.
Not a jeep, log or anything in between can stop this mama bear of three and amateur strongwoman from pushing her strength to the limit.
Not a jeep, log or anything in between can stop amateur strongwoman Chantal Routhier from pushing her strength to the limit. (Photo from video)
"Since I was a little girl, I was always teased, I guess, by my brothers (for) being the most tomboy, the most strongest one," Routhier said in a Zoom interview.
"Actually my nickname, at that time, was ‘Bamm-Bamm.'"
It’s a passion five years in the making.
Routhier says it all began with a local strongman show from Kapuskasing native Maxime Boudreau and New Brunswick's Samantha Belliveau – who recently became the strongest man and second-strongest woman in North America.
"I saw Sam and I’m like, oh my gosh, if she can do it, I can do it."
Belliveau offered to be Routhier’s coach, building her confidence and launching her amateur career two years later at a competition in Quebec City.
Routhier says she never looked back – and last week, she won first place in her category at the Ontario provincial championship in Sudbury.
Not a jeep, log or anything in between can stop amateur strongwoman Chantal Routhier from pushing her strength to the limit. (Photo from video)
It’s something she says she never thought was possible for her.
"It didn’t matter that I am a mother of three and a grandmother of two, and that I am 47 years old," Routhier said.
"It didn’t matter because you can just be as awesome at this sport. I feel pretty good, pretty strong and grateful, grateful that my body allows me to be able to do this."
And she’s not alone. Through the sport, Routhier has met dozens of women just like her.
"There is a bunch of us and we just have, you know, the best time," she said.
- Download our app to get local alerts on your device
- Get the latest local updates right to your inbox
"It’s nice to see that there’s so many other women doing this kind of stuff all over Ontario, all over Canada."
Now, Routhier is preparing for her greatest challenge yet – the national competition in Moncton, N.B., in October.
"These women are going to be strong, it’s going to be fierce competition. So, I’m hoping to make everybody proud."
Routhier’s ambitions don’t stop there. She dreams of one day stepping into the professional sphere, maybe even inspiring and coaching future strongwomen.
In fact, she says one of her daughters is getting into the sport to carry on a new family tradition.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'Beautiful in its own way': New forest emerges in Jasper National Park, bringing protection and new opportunities
Charred stumps and the remains of fire-ravaged trees still cover large tracts of land on the Jasper landscape, but life is returning quickly down below.
Bloc Quebecois ready to extract gains for Quebec in exchange for supporting Liberals
The Bloc Québécois says its ready to wheel and deal with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's party for support during confidence votes now that the Liberal government's confidence and supply agreement with the NDP has ended.
Dog mauled to death in B.C. yard after 3 pit bulls jump fence: police
A 12-year-old collie was killed by three pit bulls in the B.C. Interior Sunday morning, according to authorities.
video ‘Not checking out yet’: Woman with incurable cancer vows to keep fighting
Heather Appleton just renewed her passport for another ten years. “I’m not checking out yet,” said Appleton, 61, who has the incurable cancer, Multiple Myeloma.
Trump threatens to jail adversaries in escalating rhetoric ahead of pivotal debate
With just days to go before his first and likely only debate against U.S. Vice-President Kamala Harris, former U.S. president Donald Trump posted a warning on his social media site threatening to jail those “involved in unscrupulous behavior” this election, which he said would be under intense scrutiny.
'It's morally wrong': A rural Alberta town reacts to homeless shelter closure
At the end of a side street in Slave Lake, Alta., Lynn Bowes looks at a grey job-site trailer with boarded-up windows and doors that once operated as her town's only homeless shelter.
Over 200 firearms seized in weapons investigation: Waterloo Regional Police
According to police, during a traffic stop in Waterloo, officers noticed firearms and ammunition inside the vehicle.
Military surplus store in Calgary, destination of celebrity shoppers, closing doors
Cher, Anthony Hopkins, Heath Ledger, Alec Baldwin and Tom Hardy are just a few of the celebrities John Cumming met while growing up in his family's military surplus store.
Slide over salsa: K-pop takes socialist Cuba by storm
Socialist Cuba, the birthplace of salsa and other rhythms that have conquered the world, is now surrendering to the invasion of South Korean pop music.