Elena Seiple (born December 17, 1973) is an American bodybuilder and strongwoman.
Seiple was born in 1973 in Harmony, New Jersey. A gifted athlete from childhood, she excelled in swimming (specifically, in the breast stroke), basketball, soccer, and track. While attending a private Christian school in Pennsylvania, she competed in men's soccer due to the absence of a women's team.[1] Her level of play was enough to receive an athletic scholarship from Liberty University and it was during these years that she began experimenting with weightlifting, drawing inspiration from women like Lenda Murray and Cory Everson.[2]
She began her bodybuilding career at Gibson's Gym in Washington, New Jersey. She entered a NPC show, the Women's Extravaganza, in 1999 at a weight of 120 lb., placing second in the Middleweight category. Other career highlights include placing 2nd at the NPC Nationals a total of four times and 3rd, three times. She competed in the 2006 World's Strongest Woman, held in Poland, placing 9th at a weight of 163 lb.[3] Her personal bests are 500 lb. in the squat, 315 lb. in the bench press and 475 lb. in the deadlift.[4]
Seiple is politically conservative and a professed Christian.[5] She currently works as a judge for the NPC and manages the New Jersey NPC website.[4]