Personal information | |
---|---|
Birth name | Carl Andrew Myerscough |
Nickname | The Blackpool Tower |
Nationality | British |
Born | Hambleton, Lancashire | 21 October 1979
Height | 2.08 m (6 ft 10 in) [1] |
Weight | 160 kg (25 st 3 lb; 353 lb) [1] |
Spouse | Melissa Price |
Sport | |
Country | Great Britain |
Sport | Shot put and Discus throw |
University team | University of Nebraska-Lincoln |
Retired | 2016 |
Medal record | |
Updated on 1 March 2017. |
Carl Myerscough (born 21 October 1979) is an English former track and field athlete specialised in shot put and discus throw [2] and a world record holder grip strength specialist. [3] His imposing height of 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) earned him the nickname 'The Blackpool Tower'.
While competing for the University of Nebraska Carl gained two indoor (2002–03) and two outdoor (2003-04) NCAA Division 1 championships. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2004, with a degree in Fine Art [4] and won the UK championships in the shot put ten times consecutively from 2003 to 2012. He also competed in four IAFF World Championships.
In 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Carl won bronze in the Shot put. In 2003, he exceeded the British record with a best of 21.92m set in winning the NCAA championships in Sacramento, California, although the performance was not ratified by UK Athletics. [2] In 2004, he won the European Cup in Bydgoszcz, Poland with a throw of 20.85m. In 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi Carl won bronze in the discus throw.
During Carl's early career, he failed a drug test which resulted in a ban from competing for two years. [5] The ban was subsequently overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and in 2012, Carl became an Olympian by taking part in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. [6] [1]
Carl was introduced to IronMind Captains of Crush hand grippers when he was a student at the University of Nebraska, and he managed to closed the No. 2.5 gripper the first time he attempted it. [3] After retiring from track and field in 2016, Carl dedicated four months into grip training and in 2017 got himself certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper. [7] He continued to progress and in 2018, got certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3.5 gripper. [8] . In August 2023, he became the sixth person ever to get certified on the Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper, and the only person to do it after the introduction of its credit card rule. [9] [3]
In September 2023, Carl made history again by closing a 256 RGC rated Gillingham High Performance (GHP) level 10 gripper. He is the only person in history to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat of crush grip strength and it remains the strongest gripper ever closed by a human. [10] For reference, Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper he closed was calibrated at 215 RGC (by Cannon Powerworks) which means GHP 10 he closed is nearly 20% more difficult than his CoC 4 close [note 1] while the narrower GHP block (38mm) vs. the IronMind credit card (54mm) improves the starting leverage.
Carl is also a 3 x times Arnold Classic Armlifting Champion, and one among handful of people who have lifted the Millennium Dumbbell. He has broken more than 20 grip related word records and is renowned for his exceptional grip strength [11] with feats ranging from launching a 'York Legacy Blob' which weighs 3 times as heavy as a standard Olympic shot, to crushing raw potatoes from his bare hand into pieces.
Carl is married to the American athlete Melissa Price. They have two daughters: Mia and Grace.
Notes:
The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a compound movement, the muscles primarily used are the pectoralis major, the anterior deltoids, and the triceps, among other stabilizing muscles. A barbell is generally used to hold the weight, but a pair of dumbbells can also be used.
A barbell is a piece of exercise equipment used in weight training, bodybuilding, weightlifting, powerlifting and strongman, consisting of a long bar, usually with weights attached at each end.
The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, along with the squat and bench press, as well as a frequent lift in strongman.
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 the greatest strength athlete of all time.
Glenn Ross known by his nickname "The Daddy", is a Northern Ireland former international strongman and powerlifter who has represented Northern Ireland and the UK in several World's Strongest Man competitions and various World Grand Prix and European Team competitions. Ross is the founder of the UK Strength Council and Scotland Strength Association and the creator of the UK's Strongest Man competition, as well as several regional and national qualifying events.
The GNC Grip Gauntlet is a strength athletics contest that tests the grip strength of competing individuals over three disciplines, each designed to test one of the three recognised facets of hand strength: crushing; pinching; and supporting. It was developed by Wade and Brad Gillingham and became an internationally recognised contest featured at some of the world's most prominent strength athletics events and expos, including the Arnold Strongman Classic and the various WSM Super Series Grand Prixs. The last time the GNC Grip Gauntlet was run in a competitive format was the 2010 Arnold Classic. Since that time the challenge has changed to an informal challenge with no official results maintained. Prizes are still awarded for successful completion of the challenge.
The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of the Arnold Sports Festival which takes place annually in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Manfred Hoeberl is an Austrian former strongman and powerlifter who was known as having the largest arms in the world during the early-mid 1990s. Hoeberl was born in the same town as bodybuilding legend and former Governor of California, Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Laurence Cristiaan David Shahlaei is an English YouTuber, strength sports commentator, analyst, coach, and a retired strongman and powerlifting competitor. He won the 2016 Europe's Strongest Man competition. He is also the winner of England's Strongest Man (2009) and Britain's Strongest Man local strongman competitions.
Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more. In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
Vytautas Lalas is a Lithuanian professional strongman. He is most notable for being the winner of the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic and the runner-up at the 2012 World's Strongest Man.
Laine Snook is a former strongman and professional Highland Games competitor. As an athlete he competed internationally but his career was cut short by injury. He went on to specialise in strength based sport and represented both England and Great Britain in various Highland Games and strength athletic events. He also became the world benchpress champion. He has gained international renown in strength sport for being one of the world's foremost exponents of grip strength.
Edward Stephen Hall is a British media personality and retired strongman. He is best known for his world-record setting 500 kg (1,100 lb) deadlift in 2016 which is widely regarded as one of the most important lifts in the history of strongmen. He is also known for winning the 2017 World's Strongest Man competition.
Mateusz Kieliszkowski is a Polish strongman competitor, notable for winning the 2019 World's Ultimate Strongman competition. He is also a two-time World's Strongest Man runner-up, three-time Arnold Strongman Classic runner-up, one time Europe's Strongest Man runner-up, and five-times Poland's Strongest Man.
Martins Licis is a Latvian-American professional strongman, notable for winning 2019 World's Strongest Man, 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and 2021 Rogue Invitational strongman championships.
Oleksii Novikov is a Ukrainian professional strongman. He won the 2020 World's Strongest Man competition, becoming the second Ukrainian to win the title since Vasyl Virastyuk in 2004, and at 24 years, 278 days, he is also the second youngest winner in history, being only seven days elder than Jón Páll Sigmarsson in 1984. He is also a two time World's Ultimate Strongman, Rogue Invitational champion and Europe’s Strongest Man.
Olga Liashchuk is a Ukrainian pro Strongwoman from Donetsk. She is a 2 x time Arnold Strongwoman Classic champion and winner of World's Strongest Woman, Strongest Woman in the World and Shaw Classic Open (Women) competitions.
Odd Erling Haugen is a Norwegian-born American strongman and a grip strength specialist. He has also competed in bodybuilding, weightlifting and powerlifting.
Annika Karhu née Eilmann is a Strongwoman and grip athlete from Naantali, Finland. She is renowned as the first woman in history to lift and hold the Dinnie Stones, a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire.