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| Born | 5 November 1963 Den Ham, Overijssel, The Netherlands | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Strongman, Powerlifting | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Berend Veneberg (born 5 November 1963 in Den Ham) is a former strongman and powerlifter from the Netherlands. He finished 5th at the World's Strongest Man games in 1993, 9th in 1998, 6th in 1999, 1st at Europe's Strongest Man in 2000 and won Strongest man of the Netherlands 7 times. [1]
Veneberg was born in Den Ham, Overijssel. He managed his first podium finish at the Strongest man of the Netherlands in 1991 where he finished third behind Ted van der Parre and Wout Zijlstra. The next year he placed second behind Ted van der Parre. In 1993 he would win the tournament for the first time a feat he would repeat six times. The same year he was invited for the first time at the World's Strongest Man in which he finished fifth. He competed several more times the following years and reached the final of the tournament on two more occasions. In 1998 he was injured in the final and finished ninth. In 1999 he competed for the last time and finished sixth. Veneberg competed together with Wout Zijlstra on several occasions in the World's Strongest Team competition and won the tournament in 1998. After this they reached the podium several more times but did not win again. In 2000 Veneberg won Europe's Strongest Man. Berend has won the Dutch National Powerlifting Championships 6 times. He also runs his own gym in the Netherlands, and has trained some top strongmen such as Jarno Hams. [3] Berend competed on American Gladiators. [3]
The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. Today, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, are composed of a variety of events in which competitors have to move the highest weights possible, the winner being the one having the highest tally across all events.
Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian powerlifter and professional strongman. Due to his 84 international wins in major international strongman competitions including four World's Strongest Man championships, eight Arnold Strongman Classic championships, two IFSA Strongman World Championships, and over 70 world records, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time.
William Kazmaier is an American former world champion powerlifter, world champion strongman and professional wrestler. During the 1970s and 1980s, he set numerous powerlifting and strongman world records, and won two International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Championships and three World's Strongest Man titles. In the 1980s, Kazmaier became famous for his claim to be "the strongest man who ever lived" by equaling and surpassing spectacular and versatile feats of strength of famous strongmen of the 20th century. He is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest competitors in strength competitions and was inducted into the International Sports Hall of Fame in 2017.
Magnus Samuelsson, is a Swedish actor, former strongman and winner of the 1998 World's Strongest Man contest in Morocco. He has also made it to the World's Strongest Man podium 5 times and the finals 10 times and is regarded as one of the best strongmen in history. The son of a former Swedish arm wrestling champion, he has also been ranked among the best arm wrestlers in the world and was a European Arm Wrestling champion prior to becoming a professional strongman.
Ted van der Parre is a former strongman from the Netherlands, who won the World's Strongest Man contest in 1992 and was 4th in 1991. He also participated in 1994 when he finished 8th, having to drop out after the second event due to a calf injury. At 2.09 m and 160 kilograms (350 lb), Van der Parre was the tallest man ever to compete in the World's Strongest Man contest, and also has the lowest WSM BMI of 35. He also won the Netherlands Strongest Man contest in 1991, 1992, and 1994.
Ab Wolders is a former strongman and world champion Powerlifter from the Netherlands. He was runner-up at the World's Strongest Man competition on two occasions, placing second to Jón Páll Sigmarsson in 1984 and to Jamie Reeves in 1989. He finished 3rd at the World's Strongest Man games in 1986, 4th in 1988, 1st at Europe's Strongest Man in 1987 and was twice Strongest man of the Netherlands. Ab won the IPF World Powerlifting Championships in 1984 in the 125 kg category.
Flemming Rasmussen is a Danish former strongman competitor and powerlifter. He competed in the World's Strongest Man contest several times, finishing in 5th place in 1995 and 4th in 1996. His best result came in 1997 when he finished 2nd, but he had been leading by four points over eventual champion Jouko Ahola before the final two events. However, sixth place finishes in both of the final two disciplines allowed Ahola to overturn the deficit. Flemming won the title of Denmark's Strongest Man 7 times from 1995-2000 and in 2003, and won the Danish Powerlifting title in 1993 and 1994. Before competing as a strongman, Rasmussen was Danish ten-pin bowling champion.
The Beauty and The Beast Strongman Challenge, also known as the Beauty and The Beast World Strongman Challenge was a short-lived annual strongman competition that was notable for the calibre of the entrants it attracted, as well as for the reputation it attained in a short amount of time.
Cees de Vreugd, also known as "Kees de Vreugd" was a butcher, strongman and powerlifter from Katwijk, Netherlands. He finished third at the World's Strongest Man games in 1985.
Wout Zijlstra is a former strongman and Highland Games athlete from the Netherlands. He competed in the World's Strongest Man competition on two occasions, winning the 3rd place in 1998 behind Sweden's Magnus Samuelsson and Finland's Jouko Ahola.
The 1998 World's Strongest Man was the 21st edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Magnus Samuelsson from Sweden. It was his first title after finishing third the previous year. 1997 champion Jouko Ahola from Finland finished second, and Wout Zijlstra from the Netherlands finished third. This year had 10 qualifying heats with the winner of each heat going onto the finals. Half the field got injured during the finals of the contest, as well as several heat winners prior to the finals such as Flemming Rasmussen and Gerrit Badenhorst. The contest was held in Tangier/Tétouan, Morocco.
Jimmy Laureys is a Belgian powerlifter and strongman competitor.
Jarno Hams is a strongman from the Netherlands. He participated in the World's Strongest Man in 2002 and 2003, but failed to qualify for the finals both times. Hams is a 7-time winner of Strongest Man of the Netherlands.
Regin Vágadal is a former strongman from the Faroe Islands. He was seven times Faroe Islands Strongest Man from 1994 to 2000. He also participated in the World's Strongest Man finals between 1996 and 2000.
Gerrit Badenhorst is a former WPC world champion powerlifter and professional strongman competitor from South Africa.
Strongest Man of the Netherlands is an annual strongman competition held in the Netherlands and featuring exclusively Dutch athletes. The contest was established in 1979, with Gerard Du Prie winning the inaugural contest. Berend Veneberg and Jarno Hams hold the record for most wins with 7. Kelvin de Ruiter holds 4 wins, Ted van der Parre holds 3 wins, and Ab Wolders and Gerard Du Prie each have 2 wins in the contest.
Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and the holding of Icelandic events in the modern phenomenon of strength athletics inaugurated by the World's Strongest Man. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back many centuries with the legends of Orm Storolfsson and Grettir Ásmundarson to the 19th century traditional strongmen including Snorri Björnsson, Brynjólfur Eggertsson and Gunnar Salómonsson; before the televisation of strongman competitions in the late 1970s.
Gerard du Prie was a strongman and powerlifter from Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands. He won two world titles in the superheavyweight class (+125 kg) at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships in 1983 and 1986, both times competing in the 40–49 age group. He was the Strongest Man of the Netherlands in 1979 and runner-up in 1982. He finished in eighth place at the 1980 World's Strongest Man competition.