 | The topic of this article may not meet Wikipedia's notability guideline for sports and athletics .(April 2023) |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Born | 1936 Belfast, Northern Ireland |
| Occupation | Strongman |
| Height | 5 ft 10 in (1.78 m) |
| Weight | 73 kg (161 lb) |
Jack Shanks (born 1936) is a former strongman from Belfast, Northern Ireland. [1] He is best known for natural stone lifting. [2] [3]
Shanks is the first man to lift the Scottish Dinnie Stones of Aberdeenshire, unassisted after Donald Dinnie did so in 1860. [4] [5] He achieved this feat (which is also known as putting the wind under the stones) five times in the summer of 1972. [1]
On 3 June 1973, Shanks also became the first man after 113 years to replicate Donald Dinnie's historical feat of walking the stones over the landmark distance of 17 ft 1+1⁄2 in (5.22 m) across the width of the Potarch bridge. [6] A large group of spectators and press were gathered to witness the event. The feat was performed on the top of a flatbed lorry for the crowd to have a better viewing experience. [1] Strength historian and sports promoter David P. Webster gifted Shanks a prize of £250 for the achievement. [7]
The leather lifting belt and tank top Shanks wore during the feats are now in display at the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports. [8]
Strength athletics is the collection of strength sports which measure physical strength, based on both: non-standard and historical implements as seen in Strongman and Highland games, and standardized and calibrated equipment as seen in Powerlifting and Weightlifting.
Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their high intense and gruelling nature, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limits. The winners are selected based on a relative scoring system, where participants gather points for each individual event. An athlete who engages in the sport of strongman is also called a 'strongman'. They are often regarded as some of the strongest men of the world.
Lifting stones are heavy natural stones which people are challenged to lift, proving their strength. They are common throughout Northern Europe, particularly Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, Basque Country, Faroe Islands, Wales, North West England centered around Cumbria, Switzerland, Southern Germany centered around Bavaria, Austria, Scandinavia and also in the United States and parts of Asia such as Japan.
Donald Dinnie was a Scottish strongman, born at Balnacraig, Birse, near Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. Sometimes regarded as "The Nineteenth Century's greatest athlete", Dinnie's athletic career spanned over 50 years, and over 11,000 successful competitions.
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.
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. Shaw has also set more than 25 world records in deadlifting, stonelifting, keg-tossing, grip related movements and more.
Terence (Terry) Todd January 1, 1938 – July 7, 2018) was an American powerlifter, and Olympic weightlifter. Todd was co-founder of the H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports, co-editor of Iron Game History: The Journal of Physical Culture, and creator and event director of the Arnold Strongman Classic.
Clarence Bass is an American writer, fitness expert, and retired lawyer. He is best known for his book and DVD series Ripped, which chronicle his fitness, including becoming a past-40 bodybuilding champion. Bass was a writer for Muscle & Fitness where he had a question and answer column. He has continued to write, documenting his fitness over a span of approximately 60 years in various books that he has released since 1980. He is featured in the books Second Wind and Legends of the Iron Game. In the June 2017 issue of Men's Health, Bass was named "one of America’s greatest fitness visionaries." He is an advocate of plant-based nutrition.
Janice Todd is a professor and interim department chair in the Department of Kinesiology and Health Education at The University of Texas at Austin. Todd is a member of the sport management faculty, and teaches classes in sport history, sport philosophy, and sport and ethics. An active lecturer, Todd was named the Seward Staley Honor Lecturer for the North American Society for Sport History in 2008.
H.J. Lutcher Stark Center for Physical Culture and Sports is an archive and museum dedicated to the study and preservation of the world of physical culture. It is located at the University of Texas at Austin. Through the donations of the Nelda C. and H.J. Lutcher Stark Foundation and the Betty and Joe Weider Foundation, the Stark Center opened in 2009, providing access to the center's extensive collection of materials on weight training, bodybuilding, athletic conditioning, alternative medicine, and other forms of self-improvement. The collection, considered the largest of its kind, comprises thousands of books and magazines, an extensive photograph collection, correspondence files, posters, videotapes, films, and artifacts. The center's directors, Drs. Jan and Terry Todd, both former powerlifting athletes, are committed to preserving the history of physical culture.
Kristin Rhodes née Danielson is an American strongwoman who is foremost known as the winner of the United Strongmen Women's World Championships competition held in 2012.
John Basil Terpak was an American world champion weightlifter.
The Dinnie Stones are a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire. They were made famous by strongman Donald Dinnie, who reportedly carried the stones barehanded across the width of the Potarch Bridge, a distance of 17 ft 1+1⁄2 in (5.22 m), in 1860. They remain in use as lifting stones.
Alan Calvert was an American weightlifter, businessman, magazine publisher, and the author of several books. He was the founder of one of the first barbell companies in the world and one of the first strength-training magazines in the United States.
Ottley Russell Coulter was an American strongman, circus performer, weightlifter and police officer. He was a co-founder of the American Continental Weightlifting Association, and the author of a book about strength athletics.
For the cricketer, see George Jowett.
Ludwig Durlacher, also known as Louis Attila, was a Grand Duchy of Baden-born American strongman, gym owner and personal trainer. He trained members of European royal families and American high society as well as athletes like Eugen Sandow and James J. Corbett. He was "one of the first 'personal trainers' for the rich and famous".
The International Sports Hall of Fame (ISHOF) is a section 501(c)(3) non-profit organization established in 2012 by Dr. Robert M. Goldman to honor exceptional athletes and sporting figures for their accomplishments and dedication to furthering the fields of sports and physical culture.
Jesse Mercer Gehman was an American naturopath, vegetarianism activist and amateur wrestler associated with the natural hygiene and physical culture movement.
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.