With the final conclusion of Physical 100 Season 2, fans are once again left in awe from watching 100 strong contestants compete against each other in a series of tough challenges. Whether the contestant you were rooting for made it to the final round or not, we can’t deny that all of them have their own unique set of strengths, making this show so enjoyable to watch.
But whenever it comes to strength, many automatically assume that males will always be stronger than females due to the different physical biologies. However, like Season 1, the women who participated in Physical 100 Season 2 have once again shown us what it means to have girl power.
Here are eight of the best female contestants ranked, who challenged gender stereotypes and proved that they are just as capable as the male contestants too.
Warning: Spoilers for Physical 100 Season 2 ahead, proceed at your own risk if you’ve yet to watch the show!
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When the scale of the first team mission was revealed, I was impressed — the giant maze seemed intimidating AF. But NGL, I was a little disappointed at team leader Lee Jang Kun, who couldn’t come up with a strategy for his team. It was clear to see that his teammates were flustered and did not know what to do during the game, which ultimately led to their loss.
However, I felt proud when Hong Da Eun stepped up and made wise decisions on her own. When she realised that she was losing out in the zone she was covering alone, she left the zone to help out in another that had a higher chance of winning.
It was a good call on her part to help close the gap between the teams. On top of being quick on her feet, she was able to communicate her plan to the rest of her teammates too.
Jung You In caught my eye right from the very first episode due to her bubbly and sweet personality. One sentiment that resonated among the contestants was that having a good mindset was more important than physical strength, which Jung You In displayed perfectly.
While she didn’t showcase anything extravagant, she was well-heard in every game. She confidently gave in her inputs, cheered hard for her teammates and took every challenge head on with a positive attitude.
When tasked to do the mine cart quest alone, Jung You In cheerfully shared, “if I think of it as doing 40 reps of 40kg deadlifts, it doesn’t sound that bad”. It’s safe to say that her good energy rubbed off well on her teammates, who cheered her on despite them not winning the game.
As a national judoka, Park Da Sol was used to using her entire body weight to press down her opponents. But watching her badly struggle to load the sandbags onto the mine cart tugged at my heartstrings — she wasn’t used to relying on her arms only.
But her never-give-up attitude was honestly admirable. “The thought of giving up never crossed my mind. I knew I had to do it for it to end, so I kept pushing, even if it took a while.”
Her team received the 10-minute penalty for taking longer than the time allowed, but I was proud that she ensured to see through her mission till the end.
From the bar hanging prequest in Season 1 to the manual treadmill in Season 2, I honestly can’t tell which mission seemed tougher. Each contestant had their personal goals to hit, with Park Ha Yan hoping to place first among all the female contestants.
Pushing herself to her limits, she achieved her goal, covering a distance of 3,375m and ranked 36 out of 100 contestants. She showed us that our goals aren’t as far away as we think they are, as long as we set our mind to it.
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All of the contestants were shocked when Lee Hyun Jeong represented her team in the second prequest — pull ups. She was the only woman to compete against the male contestants from other teams.
Though her team didn’t win the advantage, she beat her personal record by doing six pull ups and was proud of herself. It was even more heartwarming to see not just her teammates, but the other contestants being proud of her too, praising her good form and for trying her best till the end.
Kim Dam Bi is certainly the definition of small but mighty. Standing at 151.8cm tall, she’s used to hearing comments that she doesn’t look like a weightlifter at all.
Her opponent, Kim Hye Bin, easily chose her to compete with for the one-on-one deathmatch because of her size, to which Kim Dam Bi challenged, “did you just look down on me because I’m short?”
The pair went into overtime twice, and Kim Dam Bi eventually emerged victorious, proving her worth.
I didn’t expect to get emotional while watching Physical 100, but Sim Yu Ri’s match against Hunter Lee had me in the feels. Gaining the top 50 positions in the prequest meant that the contestants could choose a weaker opponent for the one-on-one deathmatch and easily advance to the next stage, but the MMA fighter didn’t like the sound of that.
“Everyone seems to be choosing someone they think is an easy opponent. But since I came here to fight, I was going to go up against a strong male opponent.”
It was then she chose to compete with a man within the top 50 — FBI agent Hunter Lee, who was obviously above her weight class. She even picked the MMA cage as their battlefield, which amazed the other contestants.
It wasn’t an easy battle, but Sim Yu Ri ultimately won the tough match, earning the respect from her opponent and proving to the others that she’s not someone to be taken lightly.
Lim Soo Jin’s gigantic muscles aren’t just for show — the bodybuilder proved that she’s a beast in the solo mine cart quest. She became my girl crush the moment she loaded 15 sandbags, tested the weight, then haughtily smirked because it was lighter than she had expected.
She then proceeded to load 18 bags out of 30 for her first load, weighing a total of 720kg. For reference, Andre Jin loaded the same amount during his first attempt, and took a break afterwards as he participated in the doubles. Meanwhile, Lim Soo Jin had to do both attempts alone, back to back.
Watching Lim Soo Jin in shock, Andre Jin commented, “she loaded everything already? That’s absolutely nuts. She’s faster than us.”
Lim Soo Jin emerged second place, with the goal to prove to the male contestants that she is just as competent as them. “Our team may look relatively weaker because we have two women. But I’m doing the equivalent of a man, so I’d say it’s also our strength.”
Across two seasons, many netizens have voiced out that most of the challenges have been unfair to women, as men have the physical advantage to do better.
But despite these comments, on top of dealing with the male contestants on the show looking down on them, these female contestants have made us proud by proving their various strengths beyond gender stereotypes. We can’t wait for more female representation in Season 3.
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