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SALT LAKE CITY — In 2014, Leslie Hofheins put a loaded gun in her mouth and pulled the trigger. Two years later, she would take the podium in Florida and earn the title of “World’s Strongest Woman.”
Hofheins, a Salt Lake City resident, BYU alumna and single mother of two, was named the “world’s strongest woman” on Aug. 28 in the Strongman Corporation’s Strongest Woman in the World competition in the lightweight division.
The competition was one of the first of its kind and offered, not only a $4,000 prize, but pro status to the winner. Hofheins won it all, despite being the oldest competitor at 45 years old and beat her competition in the last event: the Stone of Steel.
Though Hofheins has trained and competed as a weightlifter for years, she hasn’t always been aware of her abilities. As a single mother of two sons, she initially began weightlifting to help her youngest son, who suffers from a disability that has confined him to a wheelchair.
“I really got into it to lose weight,” Hofheins said. “I also talked to another parent who had a child with the same disability as my son. She said, ‘You better get strong because, once they get older, they’re harder to lift.’ So I started going to the gym and lifting.”
After several months of weightlifting by herself, Hofheins hired a trainer who quickly realized that she was far above average. In fact, though Hofheins thought she was lifting just what “normal girls did,” her trainer informed her that she was lifting more than his male clients.
Unfortunately, Hofheins’ relationship with her trainer became, not only romantic, but emotionally and physically abusive as well. Hofheins said though she ended the relationship, her ex-trainer continued to threaten her for quite some time until Hofheins was able to take him to court.
It was during this time that Hofheins became depressed and began struggling with suicidal thoughts. It was a quiet night in January 2014 that she tried to take her own life. However, as she pulled the trigger, her gun jammed and didn’t fire.
“When I actually tried to commit suicide and it didn’t happen, I just thought ‘What are you doing? This is not you,’ ” Hofheins said. “I know a lot of times it doesn’t happen that way, but it’s kind of like a reality shock, like this is not who you are. What are you doing?”
Hofheins now encourages other women to accomplish their fitness goals and hopes to share her story with as many as possible. For those struggling with depression or suicidal thoughts, she encourages them to not isolate themselves.
“It’s out of embarrassment because there’s such a stigma around depression or mental illness,” Hofheins said. “I isolated myself out of embarrassment. I honestly really didn’t think other people were going through it. But the best thing is to reach out to someone you trust, though that’s hard because of fear of rejection.”
Hofheins plans to continue competing, though more for the fun of it all, rather than the competition.
“I want to be able to help others achieve their own goals now,” Hofheins said.
Liesl is a student at Brigham Young University and currently works as a news writing intern for KSL.com. You can email her at lieslnielsen@gmail.com.
