CLAIRE MYLER
the most winningest
What about strongman pulled you in and kept you here?
I am the stereotypical watched-as-a-kid in the UK, and it was always out at Christmas. I was a daddy's girl, always with my dad in the garage, tinkering, playing with motorbikes, building shit, doing stuff, and what kind of stuff, like Strongman. And so I have a very distinct memory of the year they had a battery hold and my dad being in the garage and giving me a motorbike battery and seeing if I could hold it.
I've tried multiple sports over the years, some good, some not so good at. There's always something to learn, and that's pretty cool. You're never, like, just the best at it. You're only ever the best on that day on those events with those people around you. So that's pretty cool, I think, that you can never say you're the best. So that's pretty cool.
"I think I'm inspired by people that just keep trying. Doesn't matter what it's in. Doesn't matter if it's in sport, in life, or anything. I am inspired by people that just want to enjoy life."
Why do you want to be on this team?
Because we're all fucking epic. And... why? I like -- I like the quirkiness. I like your attitude. I like your approach. Not scared to challenge the status-quo, not scared of saying what you think, whether that gets you in shit or not.
I sometimes am a bit scared, I'm a bit nervous, because, probably in the UK, you'd get absolutely screwed, and you'd never get invited to events again. At my age, can't really risk that. But I would say so much more if I had a chance.
And I like that the people that are on the team aren't just particularly strong people, but they are people that do something different. I like that.
How do you think the sport Strongman could be improved? Does it even need to be?
Yes, it does need to be. You need to take the bias out of it. There's -- particularly, the women's sport. There's an infatuation with the named people. They glorify those people, and without thought about, like, succession planning, they don't think about variation, what that does, by just putting those people in the limelight all the time rather than looking at the succession side of things.
I think they should standardize some reffing, but that's very difficult to do. That's kind of like kind of probably the main things, could it be improved.
I don't want to improve safety. Fuck that. No. I want it to be dangerous and hazardous and fucking inspiring, picking up weird shit. I am as strong as for picking up fucking fridges and random rocks, and I do not want to split-jerk a fucking barbell. If I wanted to do that, I would be an Olympic lifter. That's my little mini rant there. I fucking hate split-jerks, probably just because I can't do them.
How is Odd Objects helping the sport of strongman?
Being different and proving that you don't have to be the norm. You don't have to, you know, just be statically strong. You don't have to be this kind of person or that kind of person. You can just be yourself, and actually people will still like you in the sport, that the kit's just different and cool and quirky, and, like, people desire it. No one ever desired a pair of fucking Cerberus sleeves, did they? No one ever, ever.
What else do you want us to know?
I don't know. I like cats. Do you need to know that? Fucking, I'm waffling now. This has been nearly eleven minutes of me chatting actually random shite. I don't know if that was any use or not. I probably had too much caffeine and not enough chocolate. I should go make amends on that now.
Let me know if you want more.
Cheers....
What's your favorite Odd Objects product?
I quite like the grip shirt, because it feels like a t-shirt, not like I'm wearing a fucking weighted vest.
