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| Birth name | Russell Geoffrey Bradley | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | 17 November 1965 Worcester, England | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Occupation | Strongman, Builder | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Russ Bradley (born 17 November 1965) [2] is a British strongman competitor, notable for his appearance at the 1997 World's Strongest Man, multiple British strength titles and his numerous Guinness world records.
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.
The Strongman Super Series, known from 2001 to 2004 as the IFSA World Strongman Super Series, from 2005 to 2008 as the World's Strongest Man Super Series, and reverting in 2009 to the World Strongman Super Series, is a sequence of grand prix events in the sport of strength athletics. It was introduced in 2001 in response to concerns that, unlike other individual sports such as golf or tennis, there was no recognized international "tour" in strength athletics. The Strongman Super Series ensures that there are a number of high-profile, professionally run contests during the year, with competitors' placings being used to decide the overall Super Series Champion.
Geoffrey Lewis Capes is a British former shot putter, strongman and professional Highland Games competitor.
In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. These competitions are now composed of a variety of events in which competitors have to move the highest weights possible, the winner being the one having the highest tally across all events.
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.
The International Federation of Strength Athletes was an international governing body for strongman competition. IFSA operated from 1995-2007 and was based in Glasgow, Scotland.
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.
Thomas Inch was a British strongman, who held the titles of Britain's Strongest Youth and Britain's Strong Man.
Mark Felix is a Grenadian-English strongman competitor and regular entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition. He has competed at a record 17 World's Strongest Man contests, and 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. Having competed in over 100 international competitions throughout 19 years, Felix is the 3rd most prolific strongman contestant in history.
The United Kingdom Strength Council was founded by Glenn Ross, the famed strongman and also founder and promoter of the Irish Strength Association. The UKSC, as it is commonly termed, was promoted by Bob Daglish's Elite Strongman Promotions until March 2010.
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.
The World Strongman Cup Federation ("WSCF") was a worldwide organisation within strength athletics that claimed to be the sport's organising body with the aim of making "the Strongman Sport more popular and accessible for a wide range of the people." Its motto was "be strong". It was also a charity. The Federation organised the World Strongman Cup one of the main competitions in the field of strength athletics boasting participation from some of the foremost strongmen around the globe. It was a separate competition from the World's Strongest Man, the Strongman Super Series and the IFSA World Championship). It has since been replaced by the World Strongman Federation's World Cup.
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 "Big 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 and a popular strongman commentator and analyst.
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.
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.
Mark Westaby is a British strongman competitor, notable for being a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man.
Edward Stephen Hall is a British former professional strongman and actor who has also fought as a boxer.
Fraser Tranter is a British strongman competitor, most notable for his appearance at the 1998 World's Strongest Man, as well as his podium finishes in the 1997 and 1998 UK Strongman Docklands Challenge, a national strength athletics competition which at the time held equivalent status to Britain's Strongest Man.
Graham Hicks is an English strongman competitor who placed second in the 2014 and 2018 Britain's Strongest Man competitions. Hicks is the 2019 Britain's Strongest man.
