Having sat and watched all of the finals for the World’s Strongest Man for 1991 through to 1999, 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:
- 1991: Gregg Ernst being the first to lift the fifth McGlashan stone. He said at the time that his motivation to lift it came from knowing how happy his wife would be when he did.
- 1992: Ted Van Der Parre overcoming the problems caused by incompetant officials to win the truck pull at his second attempt, despite being yanked backwards during his first attempt as the truck ran over the starting block.
- 1993: Gary Taylor going first in pushing Samson’s barrow, breathing fire with sheer concentration, giving it everything he had, and setting too fast a time for anyone else, not even Magnus Ver Magnusson, to catch him.
- 1994: Gerrit Badehorst setting a new world record for the rock lift with 140kg (310lbs) in his home country of South Africa and then standing on one leg to show everyone how easy it was.
- 1995: Gary Taylor anihilating everyone on the behind-the-neck rack press using stone weights like something out of the Flintstones, and Magnus Ver Magnusson defeating everyone on the block lift despite being one of the lighter competitors.
- 1996: Gerrit Badenhorst showing everyone that he is a world class deadlifter by pulling a weight that no-one else could pull, barely even slowing down as he did so.
- 1997: Magnus Samuelsson winning the Husafel stone, holding it high on his chest but still managing to peer over the top because of his great height. More amazing still is that he won despite some great performances from the other competitors and despite the fact that he had only just won his first event immediately beforehand.
- 1998: the first event, the farmers’ walk being an incredibly dramatic start to the competition. Joako Ahola set the pace but Magnus Samuelsson and the crowd-pleasing newcomer Wout Zijilstra stayed with him. However, just at the finishing line, both Wout and Magnus dropped their implements and while Jouko still took first place, Riku Kiri walked, astonished, into second place.
- 1999: Laszlo Fekete, an unassuming and modest man, ruling the McGlashan stones despite an all-star line up. He made a slow start as his first stone wouldn’t settle onto the platform and came back to bash him on the nose. However, despite the blood pouring down his face, he brought considerable experience to bear and proceeded steadily through to the final (160kg) stone in a fast time overall.
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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