Jamie Reeves (born 3 May 1962) [1] is a British former coal miner, strongman and professional wrestler. As a strongman, he won the 1989 World's Strongest Man, [1] was World Muscle Power champion, [1] and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man. [1] Following retirement from competitive sport he continued to be involved in strength athletics as a referee, event promoter and coach.
Reeves was born in 1962 in Sheffield, Yorkshire. He grew up in the city and went to the City School. At school he had been a swimmer at county level, a centre-forward for his football team and had also played as Number 8 in the rugby union side that won the under-15 Yorkshire Cup. [1] He went on to become a colliery blacksmith's welder before his success as a strongman led him to give up that profession.
When Reeves saw Bill Kazmaier win his third World's Strongest Man title in 1982, on BBC television, he decided that would be his aim, and took up weights. By 1986 he had become the Yorkshire and North East powerlifting champion in the superheavy class. In addition to powerlifting he had become actively involved in strength athletics and in 1986 won the National Truck Pulling Championships (sponsored by ASA/Bristol Street Motors) and came second to Peter Tregloan in 1986 in the Midland's Strongest Man competition. In 1987 he improved on his second-place finish by winning the Midland's Strongest Man (the first of three consecutive wins). That year he also won the first of three consecutive Yorkshire's Strongest Man competitions and won the England's Strongest Man competition also. In 1988 he took the title of East Britain's Strongest Man and entered John Smith's Trial of Strength, a competition organised by Geoff Capes and David Webster in order to find the successor to the retired Capes. [1] He won the title, the equivalent that year of Britain's Strongest Man. Underlining his calibre, he then broke Thomas Topham's 274-year-old record by harness lifting three beer barrels weighing a total of 845 kg. [1]
This performances culminated in an invitation to the 1988 World's Strongest Man where he finished third on his first attempt, to Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Bill Kazmaier. The following year he won the competition in San Sebastián [1] again excelling in gripping events, seen as his speciality. He was injured for the next two competitions and on his return in 1992 came second equal with Magnús Ver Magnússon. Domestically, he won the British Muscle Power Championships and Britain's Strongest Man on numerous occasions and in total was nine times England's Strongest Man.
Jamie's best results in IPF or WPC powerlifting competition are:
After retiring from strength sports, Jamie became an International Federation of Strength Athletes judge, and ran his own gym. [3]
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's Strongest Man four times and the first and only man to win the World Muscle Power Classic five times. Jón Páll is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time, and is credited with developing Iceland's national identity. He was named Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year in 1981, and was one of the best-known Icelandic athletes. In 2012, Jón Páll was inducted into the World's Strongest Man Hall of Fame.
Magnús Ver Magnússon is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time.
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.
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.
Riku Kiri is a Finnish former strongman and powerlifter, best known for competing in the World's Strongest Man competition, narrowly missing out on capturing the title on more than one occasion. He has been referred to as: "the strongest man never to win World's Strongest Man."
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.
Donald C. Reinhoudt was an American powerlifter and strongman. He won the IPF World Powerlifting Superheavyweight Championship four consecutive times (1973–1976), and won the World's Strongest Man in 1979.
Bench press world records are the international records in bench press across the years, regardless of weight class or governing organization, for bench pressing on the back without using a bridge technique.
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.
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 Glenn Ross, Terry Hollands, Eddie Hall and John Ryan Cappalahan, 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.
Thomas Magee is a Canadian former world champion powerlifter and strongman competitor from Winnipeg, Manitoba. He was also a bodybuilder and a professional wrestler from 1985–1990.
Gerrit Badenhorst is a former WPC world champion powerlifter and professional strongman competitor from South Africa.
Mark Philippi is an American world champion powerlifter and strongman competitor. Philippi is a multiple entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition, and former holder of the America's Strongest Man title.
Oders Dell Wilson Jr. was an American world champion powerlifter and world champion strongman competitor. Wilson was known by the nickname "the Nightmare", due to his size.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, the Europe's Strongest Man, and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year and holds numerous Strongman titles from multiple strength federations, including multiple world records. With 31 international competition wins, he is the third most decorated strongman in history, behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas and Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski, and in terms of pure brute strength and with over 100 world records, many strength analysts and Strongman experts regard Hafþór as "the strongest man to have ever lived".
Hjalti Árnason, nicknamed Hjalti Úrsus, is an Icelandic former strongman competitor and world champion powerlifter. Hjalti was known by the nickname "The Great Ursus". He first began in strength sports by competing as a junior powerlifter representing Iceland in 1983. Hjalti coached the great Jón Páll Sigmarsson and won the 1988 Le Defi Mark Ten International. He also competed with Magnús Ver Magnússon in Pure Strength team competitions in 1989 & 1990.
Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. 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 modern strongman competitions in the late 1970s.
Peter Tregloan is a British former strongman and powerlifter. He has won a number of titles including nine world championships in powerlifting and is the current world record holder in squat, deadlift and total weight for the masters age class.
Tom Ryan Stoltman is a British professional strongman competitor, from Invergordon, Scotland. He is a three time winner of the World's Strongest Man in 2021, 2022, and 2024. He also won the national title of Britain's Strongest Man on the same years. Nicknamed "The Albatross" due to his sizeable arm span, Stoltman is known for his prowess with the Atlas Stones. In 2020, Stoltman broke the world record for the 5 Atlas Stones 100–180 kilograms (220–397 lb) in just 16.01 seconds; he also holds the world record for the heaviest Atlas stone ever lifted over a 1.22 metres (4.0 ft) bar at 286 kilograms (631 lb).
Listed below are the progressions of 7 deadlift world records across powerlifting, strongman and armlifting, and ultimately, the all-time progression across all strength sports.
World's Strongest Man champions | |
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Europe's Strongest Man champions | |
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