World’s Strongest Man: 1988 and 1989

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.

Review of the 1988 and 1989 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 1988 and 1989 World’s Strongest Man. If you want to buy the DVD collection, you can find it here.

Worlds Strongest Man 1980

1988 Hungary (Winner: Jan Pall Sigmarsson)

It was fantastic to see Kazmaier back again, along with some new faces: Jamie Reeves from Yorkshire, Joe Quigley rocking the mullet from Australia and Laszlo Fekete from Hungary. Reeves was particularly impressive (what is it about these Yorkshiremen?), a fact which predicted his success in 1989.

Lorry loading: This year, the lorry loading was done with 90kg objects of varying sizes and difficulties. Wolders impressed, as in 1984 when he did won but Sigmarsson was just that little bit faster this year and took the win. Nummisto took third, a place he became accustomed to take in 1986, behind Capes and Sigmarsson.
Barrow deadlift: Sigmarsson surprised everyone by bombing out of the deadlift at 475kg. Whether he took too much out of himself on the lorry loading is hard to tell but to give up so much so early was astonishing. Reeves and Nummisto went slightly higher but Kazmaier took 510kg with plenty of gas left in the tank for the win.
Truck pull: this event saw an extraordinary demonstration of psyching up by Kazmaier – he almost looked to be in tears of rage - but it wasn’t enough to beat Sigmarsson. Reeves came third.
Log lift: the overhead log lift saw some drama as Sigmarsson again failed early at 160kg. Reeves looked very strong but was unable to lift 175kg to beat Kazmaier’s highest lift of 170kg. Kazmaier was clearly delighted to beat Sigmarsson and the animosity between the two of them was palpable.
Forward hold: the traditional hold was done with sausage this year. I suppose that gives them some post-competition nutrition. Controversially, Kazmaier was disqualified for not keeping his arms straight and he was unable to beat Sigmarsson. He was really very unhappy about that and it disturbed him from then on. Dealing with that disppointment poorly may have been the factor that cost him valuable points on the final day. Reeves took the win and a new record for the forward hold.
Medley: like 1986, this medley was a sack carry and reverse sack drag. Kazmaier used a better technique to win the contest and even found time to mock Sigmarsson’s Viking laugh. Embarrassingly, he fell over mid-mockery (twice), making him look more foolish than triumphant. Fortunately, he did manage to win the event or the egg on his face might have been unbearable.
Weight for height: for some reason, possibly because of his disqualification the previous day, Kazmaier couldn’t find his groove and, despite being the only man to have hit 18ft before, was beaten into submission early in the contest. Then he could only stand at the end of the pier, alone, as Sigmarsson went higher and higher with Reeves before winning at 5.05m. Ultimately, this failure was what cost Kazmaier the overall win.
MacGlashan stones: Kazmaier retrieved some of his self-respect as he was the first to load the fifth stone but Sigmarsson also lifted it in less time to win the event and the overall competition. At the end, Kazmaier was graceful in defeat but it was plain to see just how much it pained him to lose.

For an appreciation of the epic battle between Kazmaier and Sigmarsson watch this:

1989 Spain (Winner: Jamie Reeves)

This has to be one of the very best episodes: a real competition that didn’t go the way anyone thought it would. And full of great moments, like Jim Pollock’s Highland fling, Reeves’s mastery of the log lift and Wolders’ superlative turns of speed.

Watching this back to back with 1988, it was clear that Sigmarsson looked much heavier, Kazmaier neater about the head and beard but strangely pale and Reeves a bit bigger but much more experienced and confident.

My favourite moment was when the commentator asked Reeves about his diet. Reeves explained about the milk, chicken, fish and fruit that he eats: 12,000 calories a day. In deadly seriousness, the commentator asked Reeves if there was any way to increase bodyweight without eating more food. Reeves didn’t quite know how to respond…

Car flip: Kazmaier was off to a bad start, cutting himself as the car slid sideways. He was granted a re-run but it didn’t improve his position. In fact, he made things worse by aggravating an ankle injury and tearing a bicep. Sigmarsson and Wolders went head to head in a fantastic heat but Wolders showed his impressive speed to win.
Log lift: Once again, the log lift came down to Kazmaier and Reeves. Unfortunately, Kazmaier’s ankle injury stopped him from achieving 175kg and Reeves took the win.
Farmers’ walk: with 75kg milk churns, this farmers’ walk was made harder with the addition of steps in the middle of each round. Kazmaier dropped his implements when his ankle gave out. Sigmarsson lost his when his gloves slipped. Reeves took the win.
Basque stone lifting: this was an event full of drama. Jim Pollock was coaching Ab Wolders, who only managed to shoulder one stone. While on stage, he got in the way of Laszlo Fekete’s falling stones and managed to get his feet squashed twice, leading to an impromptu Highland fling. Sigmarsson was dominant, winning easily.
Crucifix hold: this was the disastrous moment for Sigmarsson, as he came sixth. Reeves won, as he did in 1988, but Kazmaier surprised everyone to fight through his injuries (and his disastrous disqualification last year) and take second.
Zercher cart carry: this was the first time in the 1980s that this event was used, although it becomes more popular in the 1990s. Sigmarsson had another bad event; it seemed that he was losing a lot of momentum. The difficulty was the angle as the competitors found it very difficult to walk sideways, facing the barrow. Laszlo Fekete impressed with a tremendous effort but was defeated by Wolders. I suspect that mobility was an issue here, as the lighter, more athletic men succeeded.
Truck pull: Reeves took the win but Wolders beat Sigmarsson into third and Kazmaier fourth.
Lorry loading: like last year, the lorry loading was various objects of different sizes but all weighing 90kg. Wolders ran like hell and won the event, which won him second place, behind Reeves.