Girl Power with Dany Robson

ELAINE Pickup's stage name 'Lady Natural' might suggest she takes part in a demure, gentile sport.

But when you learn that the 29-year-old makes her entrance to the theme from Halloween and Def Leppard it suggests something a bit more sinister.

Elaine, from Darwen, is in fact the British arm wrestling champion and is ready to take on the world next month -- and prove that her sport is not all about, in her own words 'burly women with tattoo's' but a girls sport where even a woman who cries after competition can excel!

First of all, tell us about the stage name, Lady Natural.

Arm wrestling is a show and everyone has stage names, like wrestling. I chose this name because, like in weight lifting, there are a lot of rumours about people enhancing their performance with drugs and I want to show that I am completely clean.

I also wanted to show that arm wrestling isn't all about burly women with tattoos and piercings everywhere -- which is what I first thought -- so the idea is to present a pretty and natural image, like a ballerina almost. The music I chose to come out to is a bit different though!

How did you get involved in arm wrestling?

It was through my younger brother Neil who is now British arm wrestling champion. He got involved when he was a teenager and used me to practice on at home! Neil went to London as he became better in the sport but I was never really interested, until he tricked me when I was 23. He promised me a lift home from London if I picked him up at a pub. It just happened there was an arm wrestling competition on there, I entered it, came second -- and won £75!

What happened next?

I caught the bug. I liked the competition, it's just so intense. There was a national championships about four weeks after that in Ilford, Neil persuaded me to do it, I lost four pounds to get into the 60kg category and won it, I was British champion! Then all of a sudden I was on television, in the media, even 'You Bet' and I loved it.

What does it actually involve?

training involves about 16 hours of work a week including weight lifting, swimming, running, the usual training weight lifters do really.

The competition is on a stand up table so you are using all your body from the legs through to the back and arms. You put your elbow on a pad and the non wrestling hand holds onto a peg. You grip at the thumbs and there are about 14 ways to get your opponents hand down. In professional competition if you lose twice -- to two different opponents -- then you are out.

How do you get time to train?

Well, I work at Dupox in Blackburn who are involved in manufacturing and supplying floor coatings and they have been great. They provide me with air fare to all the competitions and give me time out to compete.

What has becoming British champion done for you?

It's changed my life. I've been to Tokyo, Canada, all over the world really. The Eastern bloc countries and America tend to be the best. I've won the British Championship six times and the European title twice.

My boyfriend, Andrew Barker, is also an arm wrestler. He's from Hoddlesden and his nickname is "Wisegrip."

I travel round with him competing. He's second in Britain behind my brother Neil, so there's a bit of family competition!

And the ultimate aim?

Is to be World Champion. I competed in Virginia, America in the WAF World Championships last week, there were 900 competitors, and I won a bronze. I ended up crying on the stage as one of the two judges said I lost on a foul for lifting my elbow! The Americans loved the emotion but I didn't agree with the judge. One man said: "You are a super puller but you've got to stop that crying!"

But I will get another chance as next month is the WAC World Championships -- their are two governing bodies in arm wrestling since last year. These are in Lapland, with some of the same competitors, and it's my other chance to be World Champion. I want to win it and can't imagine how brilliant that would be!

And we're just waiting to see if arm wrestling will be included in the Olympics in Athens in four years time. That would be fantastic.