Ielja Strik

Ielja Strik, born on 25 March 1973 in Cuijk, is a Dutch powerlifter who was also a gymnast and a bodybuilder. She practised gymnastics from the age of five for around fifteen years, reaching a reasonably high domestic level, then turned to bodybuilding and, in 2001, to powerlifting. Within a month of starting she entered the Dutch championships and was asked to join the Dutch selection. She competes in the class up to 90 kg and prefers the bench press. From 2004 up to and including 2007 she was both European and world record holder in bench pressing, setting a bench press world record of 182.5 kg in 2006 and improving it to 183 kg on 14 March 2010. In powerlifting she attained the world record in 2006 and 2007, and she represented the Netherlands at the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, United States.