Donna Moore is one of the most successful strength athletes Britain has ever produced.
A three-time World’s Strongest Woman, multiple-time Arnold champion and the second-most decorated professional strongwoman of all time, her career résumé places her firmly among the elite of the sport.
But according to Moore, reaching the very top of strongwoman competition has never come with the kind of financial reward many people assume.
Speaking on Eddie Hall’s The Good, The Bad, And The Beast podcast, Moore laid bare just how little prize money was on offer when she won the World’s Strongest Woman title — and the numbers were eye-opening.
Moore, born in 1980, is a single mother of two from Colburn, North Yorkshire. She has been competing since 2012 and has built one of the most formidable careers in strength sports history. Her accolades include World’s Strongest Woman titles in 2016, 2017 and 2019, Europe’s Strongest Woman in 2015, Arnold Amateur Strongwoman world championships in 2016 and 2017, and the Arnold Pro Strongwoman title in 2018.
Her personal records underline her dominance: a 250 kg deadlift, a 115 kg log lift, an 81.5 kg dumbbell press, and multiple Atlas Stone world records — feats that place her among the strongest women ever to compete.
Yet despite those achievements, Moore revealed that the financial reality of winning at the highest level was far from glamorous.
During the podcast, Hall reflected on his own experience of winning the World’s Strongest Man title in 2017.
Hall said: “When I won the World’s Strongest Man, do you know how much prize money there was for first place? I think I got something like – the taxes and stuff, because they get taxed in America – $35,000 for winning the World’s Strongest Man. And that was like the pinnacle of the sport. And that’s just for those listening in, that’s how hard it is. You gotta think you work all year, you train all year, you dedicate your life to that one show. And then it’s barely enough to sort of live off, isn’t it?
“Once you’ve equated all the training, the travelling, the food, it’s just not enough. So having that full-time job was essential.”
That figure alone surprised many listeners. But Moore’s response revealed an even starker contrast.
She told Hall: “So I think the first World’s Strongest Woman that was in 2016, then that was like £1,500 for the winner. Yeah. Then the year after that, because it changed format then to the OSG format, I think it was like $200.”
Hall immediately reacted to the drop: “So it went less?”
“Yeah, because there was more categories and obviously the money’s, the money’s less,” Moore replied.
The idea that a world title could pay just £1,500 — and in some cases as little as $200 — highlighted how far behind the women’s side of the sport was financially, even as it continued to grow in popularity and participation.
However, things have thankfully started to change in recent years.
Hall noted that prize money is improving in recent years, particularly with larger events returning.
“It’s been brought back, it’s slowly coming back up though, isn’t it? Now it’s like building back up in these categories, getting all these mass event, mass participation,” Hall said.
Moore agreed that the landscape has changed, but pointed out that growth doesn’t always translate into big prize payouts.
“There is mass participation but with that then there is no like giant prize money. It’s the Britain’s Strongest Woman has like better money basically,” she said. “If you’re going to do some of the the Rogue records you know they were like big money and it depends on what what was available at that time. So the prize money is a giant step up that they’ve done with Rogue and the Rogue Invitational. It’s huge.”
Her comments echo a broader shift within strongwoman competitions over the last few years, where select competitions and promotions have begun offering far more meaningful financial rewards.
That progress was also highlighted by World’s Strongest Woman 2021 champion Rebecca Roberts in an interview with The Guardian. Speaking about the evolution of prize money, Roberts said: “Thankfully, there’s a lot more money coming into the sport now. The 2023 Arnold Strongwoman competition had $80,000 (£63,000) prize money. That was unheard of two or three years ago.”
For athletes like Moore, those improvements represent long-overdue recognition of the physical toll, commitment and professionalism required to compete at the highest level.
Featured image credit: YouTube/@GoodBadBeastPod (screenshot)
