The standards for the women’s Crushed-To-Dust Challenge were fairly buried on the updated rules page, but that didn’t stop a flurry of candidates before IronMind had a chance to announce them more broadly—Amy Wattles was first out of the gate, along with Tammy McClure, and who better to meet this standard of excellent all-around grip strength than Amy and Tammy.

To back up, the women’s standards for the Crushed-To-Dust Challenge are:

• Closing a Captains of Crush Point Five gripper
• Lifting 13 kg/28 lb. on the IronMind Hub and
• Lifting 53 kg/117 lb. on the Rolling Thunder

“Amy is a 51 year old Special Education Teacher. Amy and her husband Matt own Competitive Edge Athletic Performance Center in Meridian, ID and have two kids.

“Amy first started competing in grip in 2012, being the first woman to win US Grip Sport National Championship. In 2013 Amy started competing in the different FitExpos Odd Haugen promoted and set several inaugural IronMind women’s grip records.  Amy also became the second woman in the world to certify on the COC 2 and has attempted a few certifications on the COC 2.5.

“Amy earned her HW Strongman Corp pro-card, has won America’s Strongest Master, competed at World Strongwoman Championship in Poland, competes in the Pro Class for Armlifting USA and has won several national championships in different strength sports.  

“During most of my time in grip I always felt like my numbers were undisputed so time would tell if I was actually any good at grip.  The adoption of the Women's Crushed to Dust Challenge is a testament to how much grip sport has grown for the women! To complete this certification with Tammy was such a pleasure! She's amazing and is pushing me to stick around a little longer and see what I can still do!,” Amy told IronMind.

Tammy McClure Iives in Boise, Idaho and said she’s “excited to partake in the CTD Challenge with her grip buddy, Amy Wattles. Very new to the world of grippers, this was my first credit card set and first time closing a CoC Point Five gripper.” 

Tammy recently demolished the women’s world record for Rolling Thunder Pull-ups, which is appropriate for someone who’s been making a name for herself in grip strength contests, and says, “The best medicine is pull-ups. They can be done in the house, at the park, on the rock and bonus points with [my] two daughters hanging onto [my] legs.” 

Here’s a link to Amy’s attempt and to Tammy’s attempt.

Congratulations, Amy and Tammy—you’ve gotten the ball rolling and have officially been certified on the women’s Crushed-To-Dust! Challenge!

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