SHE is the reigning strongest woman in England, and now Basingstoke’s Farah Fonseca has qualified for a place in the European competition.

The 22-year-old took her spot in the final of Britain’s Strongest Woman at the weekend against the UK’s strongest women, in a bid to reach the European edition of the strength sport competition.

In June the personal trainer became England’s strongest woman, clinching a spot in the UK wide competition, which took place in Northampton.

Competing against 15 other strong women from the nation, Farah took part in a series of challenges set to show off her strength.

During the competition she lifted atlas stones, giant dumbbells and even pulled a transit van as she bid to continue her recent winning streak.

But in the end Farah had to settle for bronze. 

“It’s a bit gutting getting third but at the end of it, I was happy to qualify for Europe’s Strongest Woman,” Farah, who runs Fonseca Fitness Bootcamp in Basingstoke, said.

“The Europeans will be a really good platform for me to go up against women from different countries with new and different techniques to what I am used to.

“It’s all been a massive learning curve for me and to qualify for these championships shows how far I have come in a year – it’s amazing really.”

Much like World’s Strongest Man, the women’s edition involves just as much core strength.

This year alone Farah has qualified for both the European and World competitions despite only entering her first competition as a novice just last year. 

It’s an incredible rise and one that she hopes will continue into next year. 

Farah added: “This year I wanted to learn more about the sport and myself as a competitor in order to make sure I am ready for the World’s Strongest Woman in March next year. 

“But overall I am happy because I never expected to go so far so quickly – I have so much good support around me I can’t be much happier.”