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.
Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully competed in strongman competitions. However, strongman events also test physical endurance to a degree not found in powerlifting or other strength-based sports, such as carrying refrigerators, flipping truck tires, and pulling vehicles with a rope.
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.
A strongwoman is a woman who performs feats of strength in a show or circus, or a woman who competes in strength athletics. Traditionally, strongwomen have had a special appeal, as women involved in demonstrated feats of strength were exceptions.
Jamie Reeves is a British former coal miner, strongman and professional wrestler. As a strongman, he won the 1989 World's Strongest Man, was World Muscle Power champion, and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man. Following retirement from competitive sport he continued to be involved in strength athletics as a referee, event promoter and coach.
Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the United Kingdom. Competitors qualify for the final through regional heats and the winner is awarded the title of "Britain's Strongest Man". The competition is produced by TWI and serves as a qualifying event for the World's Strongest Man ("WSM") competition, also a TWI production.
Andrus Murumets is an Estonian strongman and entrant to the World's Strongest Man contest. He reached 5th in the World Rankings according to the IFSA rankings in 2008. Andrus competed in the IFSA World Championships in 2005 finishing 4th, 5th in 2006 and 5th in 2007. Andrus has competed in the Arnold Strongman Classic 3 times, his best finish was 3rd in 2007. In 2009 he became the overall champion of the Strongman Champions League. He has been described by Svend Karlsen as having the strongest grip in the world.
Oliver John Thompson is an English strongman, mixed martial artist and former holder of the title Britain's Strongest Man. Thompson currently competes in the Heavyweight division, is a former UCMMA heavyweight champion, and has also previously competed for the UFC, KSW, and BAMMA.
Jimmy Marku is an Albanian-born British strongman competitor.
Mark Felix is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. He has won numerous international grip contests, including the Rolling Thunder World Championships in 2008 and 2009, as well as the Vice Grip Viking Challenge in 2011 and 2012.
Strength athletics in the United Kingdom and Ireland has a long history going back many centuries before the televisation of strongman competitions in the 1970s. The ancient heritage of the sport in the United Kingdom and Ireland lies in a number of traditional events, the most famous of which is arguably the traditional Highland Games, which itself is a source of many events now practised in modern strongman competitions, such as World's Strongest Man and International Federation of Strength Athletes (IFSA) sponsored events. However, the traditional events still are popularly contested events today. In the more modern phenomenon that is the World's Strongest Man and its associated competitions, the United Kingdom and Ireland remain well represented with Eddie Hall, Terry Hollands, and former competitor Glenn Ross and John Ryan Cappalahan respectively with regular appearances at world finals, and with three men having won the title of World's Strongest Man, as well as Shane Davis Cappalahan appearing in eight final events.
Marc Iliffe was a British strongman famous for being the winner of Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2002.
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.
The World's Strongest Man 2009 was the 32nd edition of World's Strongest Man and took place in Valletta, Malta from 26 September to 3 October 2009. It was sponsored by PartyPoker.com. It was anticipated by the strength athletics world as promising to be "the best one yet." The anticipation was based on the organisers ensuring invites were made to "every top athlete in the world" regardless of their affiliation to any particular strength athletics body. In previous years, the schism between the International Federation of Strength Athletes and the organisers of WSM had meant that certain athletes were forbidden to compete, undermining the credentials of the competition.
Laurence "Loz" Shahlaei is an English strongman competitor, winner of England's Strongest Man Britain's Strongest Man and Europe's Strongest Man, and regular competitor at the World's Strongest Man. He was the 2016 Europe's Strongest Man champion.
Darren Sadler is a British former strongman competitor, winner of the World Strongman Challenge in the under 105 kg category, and notable for being a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man despite his comparatively small stature.
Forbes Cowan is a Scottish former strongman competitor and multiple entrant to the World's Strongest Man. Although he never captured the World's Strongest Man title, during the 1990s he was the World Muscle Power champion, Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man, as well as being consistently in the top five in major international competitions.
Adrian Rollinson is a British strongman competitor, notable for being a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man.
Mark Westaby is a British strongman competitor, notable for being a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man.
Chris Gearing is a British strongman competitor, notable for having won the England's Strongest Man title and having competed at the World's Strongest Man.
England