Chris Beardsley's Garage Gym

Having sat and watched all of the finals for the World’s Strongest Man for 1980 through to 1989, I have remembered some great moments, some heart-breaking moments and some I-just-can’t-believe it moments.

Here are some of my favourite moments:

• 1980 – the bar bending event yielded some amazingly simian noises as the gorilla-sized contestants battled with the 11/16 inch diameter bar.  Bill Kazmaier was the only one to finish and he strolled around with the bar wrapped around his neck like a medallion as the others tried and failed to complete the bend.  
• 1982 – this year, the weight for height event was expected to be hotly contested between Geoff Capes and Bill Kazmaier, Capes being the world record holder from 1981 and Kazmaier expecting to clear 18 feet for a new world record.  In fact, Capes hit the bar on the way down from one of his throws, leaving Kazmaier free to take first place.  When Bill did throw, however, his throw cleared the bar by so much it was clear that 18 feet was no empty boast.
• 1983 – the silver dollar deadlift came early in the sequence this year and it was Tom Magee who dominated the event, lifting 535kg (1,180lbs) for a new world record.  In an amazing performance, he pushed a very young looking Jon Pall Sigmarsson into second and the world record holder in the deadlift (Doyle Kenady, 890lbs) into third.
• 1984 – the static hold this year was made with an unusual implement: a wooden rocking horse.  It was also a surprising triumph for Ab Wolders, who pushed Jon Pall Sigmarsson into second.  Kindly, the event organisers gave Ab the rocking horse to take home for his son.
• 1985 – the Swingletree event came up this year.  This is a directly competitive event where the competitors sit on the ground facing each other and grasp a pole horizontally.  “Grizzly” Brown defeated Sigmarsson, mainly on account of his huge bodyweight.  But in the final, it was Geoff Capes who defeated the Grizzly by ripping the pole out of his hands twice.
• 1986 – the boat deadlift was controversial as Sigmarsson was disqualified twice, once for dropping the boat and once for bouncing the boat before lifting.  Despite being the main beneficiary of any disqualification, Geoff Capes went into overdrive to persuade the official to allow him to continue.  With these teething difficulties out of the way, he managed to go on to win.
• 1988 – the medley this year was a sack carry and reverse sack drag that few of the competitors managed to get the hang of.  Bill Kazmaier used a better technique to win the contest by a very long way and even found time to mock Jon Pall Sigmarsson’s Viking laugh.  Embarrassingly, he fell over mid-mockery (twice), making him look more foolish than triumphant.  Fortunately, he did manage to win or the egg on his face might have been unbearable.
• 1989 – the McGlashan stone shouldering this year 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, performing an impromptu highland fling, much to the amusement of the crowd.

It’s been a great couple of weeks watching these finals and it’s been fun to analyse them and think about what happened.  I’ve definitely found a lot of inspiration in watching these remarkable athletes and I hope you have shared some of that feeling.

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