World’s Strongest Man: 1983 and 1984

I have posted about strongman before and I often have links to useful sites.  If you’re interested, check out my top 10 website resources for strongman.  I also love watching World’s Strongest Man on television – it’s probably the highlight of my televiewing year – and I enjoy using strongman equipment in my workouts, especially when the weather is nice and I can use the garden.

And not only has it been an enjoyable experience for me, training wise, it’s produced some fun blog posts too, including:

• how to make simple farmers’ walk bars;
• how to make (more complicated) farmer’s walk bars;
• how to make a cheap sandbag;
• training with sandbags (lifting and loading);
• how to make a fat bar (for axle deadlifts, cleans and presses).

However, please note that I don’t compete and I don’t profess to any inside knowledge.  That aside, I hope you enjoy this article.

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Review of the 1983 and 1984 Worlds’ Strongest Man Finals

Following my post on Monday about the World’s Strongest Man 1980s, here is the second set of reviews: a quick look at the events of the 1983 and 1984 World’s Strongest Man.  If you want to buy the DVD collection, you can find it here.

1983 New Zealand (Winner: Geoff Capes)

This was the first year that Geoff Capes won and the first year than the competition was held outside of the USA.  It is pointless to speculate as to whether Geoff would have won if Bill Kazmaier had been there but it is safe to say that Geoff made very few mistakes this time and the events suited him.

This year, the weight-for-height went in Geoff’s favour, as it should with his background in throwing and his experience in highland games.  But it wasn’t luck that won it for him.  He had an air of confidence about him the whole way through and it was something the other competitors picked up on.  

Even Jan Pall Sigmarsson’s theatrics, in his first year at the finals, came across more as the jester in the court of King Capes, rather than the Ali-esque “I am the Greatest” declamations they would later become.

• Farmers’ walk: Sigmarsson took the lead with this event, managing to pass Capes’ mark and push him into second, just ahead of Wulfse.
• Bar bending: This was a big setback for Capes as he had not been beaten in this event in nine competitions, not since Kazmaier was the only one to bend his bar in 1980.  Wulfse was the only one to complete the 15mm diameter bar and Magee pushed Capes into third.
• Silver dollar deadlift: this was earlier in the sequence this year and it was Magee who dominated the event, lifting 535kg (1,180lbs) for a new world record.  In an amazing performance, he pushed a very young looking Sigmarsson into second and the world record holder in the deadlift (Doyle Kenady, 890lbs) into third.
• Truck pull: this event went off to a bad start as the original vehicles chosen were tractors, which didn’t move at all when they were pulled.  Some hurried running around and they found a suitable truck.  Unfortunately, they couldn’t find two identical ones, so they couldn’t race in pairs.  Sigmarsson and Magee suffered horribly because of their efforts in the deadlift and Capes took first, ahead of Wulfse and Okonkwo.
• Rock lift: only Gamble was able to lift the heaviest rock in this event, pushing Wulfse and Sigmarsson into joint second.
• Weight for height: Capes finally found his form on the event that he should have dominated for several years, taking first ahead of Magee and Wulfse.
• Wool hoist: Sigmarsson dominated this event, pushing Capes into second.  However, this was enough to put Capes into the lead for the first time in the competition.
• Lorry loading: this was a curious event as the bags contained fine flour, which got into the competitors lungs.  Sigmarsson set a very fast time with 1min31s.  The flour killed Magee and he barely managed to complete his bags.  Capes came second and that was enough to give him the overall win.  

Much of the footage of the 1983 final can be found on YouTube in two parts as follows:

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1984 Sweden (Winner: Jan Pall Sigmarsson)

A very different scene to this year’s championship, held in Åre in Sweden.  It was interesting to see the competitors dressed in tracksuits and hats, against the extremely cold weather.  And the style of commentary is now more of a documentary rather than a report.  This was helped by the use of John Craven as the commentator, who you may remember from Newsround, if you grew up in the UK.

The most striking thing about the competition, though, was not the snow or the rather more documentary style of presenting.  It was the complete absence of any deadlift or squat events.

Whether this would have made any difference to the rankings, given Sigmarsson’s excellent performance in the deadlift in 1983, is hard to say.  Capes was never a great deadlifter or squatter and it is hard to say whether Wolders would have been able to challenge Sigmarsson more effectively with a more traditional event line up.

For the first time, the contest found a sponsor that fitted the contest in DAF trucks.

• Truck pull: the truck pull this year on snow and ice this was clearly very difficult.  As in 1982, one of the trucks was clearly harder to get moving and no-one in the red lane did very well.  Sigmarsson, going first, set a very fast time, which ultimately won.  Ab Wolders, Holland’s strongest man and a newcomer to WSM, came second.   Capes came third, despite him expecting to dominate the event.  He later said that this failure cost him the overall win.
• Caber toss: Sigmarsson, having been to Scotland to practice highland games events, set a new world record of 17m29cm.  Capes, while not winning, still managed to redeem himself after his disappointing performance in this event in 1982, where he was beaten by Waddington.  This time he pushed Waddington into third.
• Rock lift: Sigmarsson won again, with 125kg, with Capes in second place.
• Rocking horse hold: This was a triumph for Wolders, who pushed Sigmarsson into second.  Capes never did well in these events and crawled into fifth place.  Kindly, the event organisers gave Wolders the rocking horse to take home for his son.
• Sled push: this was a fascinating race, as Geoff, the heaviest man in the competition, showed a real turn of speed and beat Sigmarsson and Wolders into second and third.
• Lorry load: The lorry load this year was with blocks of ice.  The weights looked slightly lighter than usual and it was a real test of strength endurance.  Wolders, looking incredibly fast and athletic, won, followed by Sigmarsson and Capes.
• Bench press: Not a bench press, technically, but a floor press, this lift was made doubly difficult by being a log without handles, so it rolled if the balance was not perfect.  As a national powerlifting champion, Waddington impressed on this event, beating everyone. And he clearly had more in the tank after his 220kg final lift.  Capes managed to pull something out of his hat to come second and Sigmarsson was beaten into third.
• Arm wrestle: Sigmarsson and Capes battled it out during the semis and Capes tore a muscle in his forearm.  Recognising that he had already won and the chance of injury, Sigmarsson conceded the final to the arm-wrestling champion, Daniel Poulin. 

You can see some of the 1984 events on YouTube here:

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