Northern Ont. strongwoman powering her way to a national championship

Northern Ont. strongwoman aims for national title You don’t want to mess with Chantal Routhier, who’s aiming for the top at the national strongwomen competition in Moncton in October.

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.

"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.

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.

"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.