“It’s a childhood dream!” Met PC who is Britain’s Strongest Woman breaks Guinness World Record on Blue Peter

A Met officer who juggles her day job while holding the title of Britain’s strongest woman has smashed a Guinness World Record on Blue Peter.

PC Lucy Underdown was challenged to carry two presenters on a yoke, weighing more than 200kg, and pull it for 50m in under 90 seconds.

The officer, who polices the London’s south east, not only pulled it in approximately 34 seconds, she pulled a car and bagged herself a Blue Peter badge.

She said: “It’s a childhood dream to get a badge. I don’t normally talk about myself so going on Blue Peter was very surreal. I had so much fun.

“I couldn’t make my mind up what I wanted more – the Guinness World Record or the badge, and I was determined to get both! I had so much fun and was so grateful they wanted me to take part.”

PC Underdown joined the Met ten years ago, and started weight lifting two years into her service. She juggles her job with competing and says both play a huge part in her life.

Lucy said: “I have always loved sports and always wanted to be in the PE department. I played netball, lacrosse… anything that was going. I started discus throwing when I was a teenager and ended up competing, with my poor mum and dad having to drive me to sports fields all over the country.

“I thought I would become a PE teacher, but I always liked the idea of policing. I want to give back, and I want be first on scene to try and help people. When I heard the Met was recruiting I thought that’s it, I’m doing it. I was so excited to join, I love the job.

“When I joined the Met I used the gym to de-stress and ended up using one where lots of weight lifting contenders train. I wasn’t really interested in competing but they persuaded me to take part and I ended up giving it a go.

“I came second in my first competition, realised I was quite good at it, and it’s never really stopped. I think of it as a hobby that’s got out of control!”

PC Underdown now travels the world to compete, drawing crowd as she lifts weights. She recently met Arnold Schwarzenegger when she competed in the Arnold Classic in Ohio, USA, which saw thousands of people watch her take part in the gruelling challenges.

She broke a world record, becoming the first woman in history lifting a 318kg/700lb bar and now has her sights set on beating this record at the end of the year.

She explained how her family, friends, and colleagues reacted to it.

She said: “When I was younger, I had no role models who were doing this. I’m nearly 6ft, I’m strong, and there weren’t many women who were doing this.

“So when I told my mum and dad, they were a little bit surprised but so supportive. They’ve been amazing, I’m very lucky to have them.

“I have had to tell my team because sometimes I travel to take part. They’ve all been wicked and watch my competitions online and send me good luck messages. My friends are so happy for me and they tell me I should talk about it more, but it’s not really my thing, so this attention feels really weird.

“I really would encourage people to take part, the community is so nice, and the women who compete are great. You don’t have to be a certain body shape or weight or height to take part, and you’ll be so surprised at what you can achieve and what your body can do.”

Lucy’s borough commander, Chief Superintendent Trevor Lawry, said: “All of us are so proud of Lucy, she’s a credit to the Met.

“She’s dedicated to her work and pulls out all the stops to help people, so for her to be breaking world records when she’s not doing her job makes her achievements even more impressive."

PC Underdown’s Guinness World Record attempt aired on Blue Peter on CBBC on Friday, 12 February.