| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Various |
| Established | 1987 |
| Final year | 1990 |
| Format | Multi-event competition |
| Final champion | |
 Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson | |
Pure Strength was a strongman competition held from 1987 to 1990 which was created by Tjalling van den Bosch. [1]
The first year of the event was known as "Pure Strength Challenge" and it was a single man competition featuring only Bill Kazmaier, Geoff Capes and Jón Páll Sigmarsson. The event was held at Huntly Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Jón Páll won 8 out of 10 events to become the 1987 champion. In 1988, the event became a 2-man team competition held at Allington Castle in Allington, Kent England. The teams were from the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Australia. Team USA would eventually win in 1988, with team members Bill Kazmaier and Stuart Thompson. In 1989, Team Iceland claimed victory with team members Hjalti Árnason and Magnús Ver Magnússon. Kazmaier would win again in 1990 for Team USA along with teammate O.D. Wilson. [2]
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pure Strength '87 |  | |  |  |
| Pure Strength II 1988 | Bill Kazmaier Stuart Thompson | Jamie Reeves Mark Higgins |  Ab Wolders Tjalling van den Bosch |  |
| Pure Strength III 1989 | Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon | Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson | Jamie Reeves Mark Higgins | |
| Pure Strength IV 1990 | Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson | Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon | Tjalling van den Bosch Ted van der Parre | |
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's Strongest Man four times. He is 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, and 1996.
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.
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.
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.
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.
Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski currently holds the record for most wins with 6 titles. Zydrunas Savickas, Geoff Capes, Riku Kiri each hold three titles, while Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson holds 5 titles. As of 2010, the Europe's Strongest Man contest has become a part of the Giants Live season of annual grand prix events. The contest serves as a qualifying event for the World's Strongest Man contest, with the top 3 placings qualifying for that year's WSM contest.
The World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestigious strongman contest in the world, after the World's Strongest Man. It was notable for that reason and for the quality of the strength athletes it attracted, which included every winner of the World's Strongest Man competition from 1980 onwards including Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Geoff Capes and Bill Kazmaier from the 1980s right up to the five time WSM champion Mariusz Pudzianowski, who was never able to capture the WMPC title.
Stefán Sölvi Pétursson is an Icelandic strongman competitor and entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition.
The 1988 World's Strongest Man was the 11th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jón Páll Sigmarsson from Iceland. It was his third title. 1980, 1981 and 1982 winner Bill Kazmaier from the United States finished second, and Jamie Reeves from the United Kingdom finished third. The contest was held at Budapest, Hungary.
The World Strongman Challenge was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running in various guises for twenty years, with only two years break. In that time it attained the position of one of the most prestigious strongman contest in the world, after the World's Strongest Man and the World Muscle Power Classic. As with its two international counterparts it attracted the top quality strength athletes of its era, which included every winner of the World's Strongest Man competition from 1980 onwards including Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Geoff Capes and Bill Kazmaier from the 1980s right up to the current WSM champion Žydrūnas Savickas.
Andrés Guðmundsson is a prominent former international strongman competitor and Highland Games competitor, and former holder of the World Strongman Challenge title.
Oders Dell Wilson Jr. was an American world champion powerlifter and world champion strongman competitor.
Strength athletics in Finland refers to the participation of Finnish competitors and events in the field of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man.
Strength athletics in the United States refers to the various strongman events throughout United States and North America in the sport of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man ("WSM") contest. America has both an amateur and a professional sanctioning body.
Le Defi Mark Ten International was one of the most prestigious strongman contest in the world in the 1980s and early 1990s. Staged in Quebec, Canada, it was begun as a tribute to Louis Cyr and was notable for the quality of the strength athletes it attracted, which included a number of winners of the World's Strongest Man competition, including Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Bill Kazmaier and Magnús Ver Magnússon.
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 competed alongside Magnús Ver Magnússon in a team strength competition called Pure Strength in 1989 & 1990.
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 history going back many centuries before the televisation of strongman competitions in the 1970s and Iceland has a role in that more ancient heritage. In terms of modern strength athletics, Iceland has held a preeminent position as a nation due to the enormous success of its competitors on the international stage, who between them have won Nine World's Strongest Man titles, and numerous major European and international competitions.
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