Being in the weight room is a big part of life at Bearspaw Christian School.
It’s a top-notch facility and it’s where a lot of their students get their start.
Seventeen-year-old Jessica Gray is one of them.
“It started with the barbell program,” the Grade 12 student said.
“There’s just such a talk about it at our school and everyone wants to join it. That’s how I initially joined and I also wanted to lift to increase my ability as an athlete.”
Lifting weights eventually led Gray to start competing in strongwoman competitions.
This was her first year competing and she made her mark—Gray won the city and the province.
She finished second at nationals and qualified for the worlds in Madison, Wis.
Despite her lack of experience, Gray won bronze at the World Teen Strongman Championship.
She still can’t believe how far she’s come.
“I was going into the city qualifiers just imagining that I was going to get smoked by someone that was way bigger and way stronger than me. I have no idea how I made it to worlds and how I got third,” she said.
Jesse Roest, her teacher and coach, says Gray may not be the biggest competitor, but she’s a fierce competitor.
“Pound for pound, Jessica is the strongest lady in the world,” he said.
“The two other ladies that won gold and silver are a little bit larger than her and they had a pound advantage, but Jessica is first in our hearts here, that’s for sure.”
Gray still can’t believe she has the title of third strongest teen strongwoman in the world.
She feels her advantage is her athleticism.
“Strongman is different than powerlifting because it’s not just you go out and pick up a weight and put it back down,” she said.
“There’s so much more intensity to it. It’s so much more creative and I feel like it involves so many more different aspects of athleticism compared to powerlifting.”
Gray says there’s no doubt she wants to continue competing in the future.
“I would love to continue it because I feel like it’s helped build my character and has helped me as an athlete,” she said.
“Physically, it has made me so much stronger and made me a better person, too. I’d love to continue.”
Fellow Bearspaw Christian School student Alex Skirukha won males’ gold. We have a story about him here.
Jessica Gray, Jesse Roest and Alex Skirukha.
