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.
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.
Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian powerlifter and professional strongman. Due to his 84 international wins in major international strongman competitions including four World's Strongest Man championships, eight Arnold Strongman Classic championships, two IFSA Strongman World Championships, and over 70 world records, he is widely regarded as the greatest strength athlete of all time.
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.
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.
Ted van der Parre is a former strongman from the Netherlands, who won the World's Strongest Man contest in 1992 and was 4th in 1991. He also participated in 1994 when he finished 8th, having to drop out after the second event due to a calf injury. At 2.13 m and 160 kilograms (350 lb), Van der Parre was the tallest man ever to compete in the World's Strongest Man contest, and also has the lowest WSM BMI of 35. He also won the Netherlands Strongest Man contest in 1991, 1992, and 1994.
Terry Hollands is a British bodybuilder and the winner of the 2bros Pro Luke Sandoe Classic Beginners Class 2019 bodybuilding championships. Hollands is also a retired strongman competitor and a past winner of Britain's Strongest Man, the UK's Strongest Man, and England's Strongest Man competitions. He's also a Europe's Strongest Man silver (2010) & bronze (2017) medalist, a two time World's Strongest Man bronze medalist, a two time Arnold Strongman Classic 8th-place winner, a World's Ultimate Strongman 9th-place winner (2018), and the 5th most prolific strongman contestant in history having competed in more than 90 international competitions, winning 4 of them throughout 17 years. With 12 international event wins, Hollands is noted for his vehicle pulling skills, making him the 7th best vehicle puller in strongman history. He was nicknamed Terry 'The Tank' Hollands or 'Big Tel'.
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.
Cees de Vreugd, also known as "Kees de Vreugd" was a butcher, strongman and powerlifter from Katwijk, Netherlands. He finished third at the World's Strongest Man games in 1985.
Wout Zijlstra is a former strongman and Highland Games athlete from the Netherlands. He competed in the World's Strongest Man competition on two occasions, winning the 3rd place in 1998 behind Sweden's Magnus Samuelsson and Finland's Jouko Ahola.
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.
The 1984 World's Strongest Man was the eighth edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jón Páll Sigmarsson from Iceland. It was his first title after finishing second the previous year. Ab Wolders from the Netherlands finished second and, 1983 champion Geoff Capes from the United Kingdom finished third. The contest was held at Mora, Sweden.
The 1986 World's Strongest Man was the tenth edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jón Páll Sigmarsson from Iceland. It was his second title after finishing second the previous year. 1983 and 1985 champion Geoff Capes from the United Kingdom finished second and, Ab Wolders from the Netherlands finished third. The contest was held at Nice, France.
Berend Veneberg is a former strongman and powerlifter from the Netherlands. He finished 5th at the World's Strongest Man games in 1993, 9th in 1998, 6th in 1999, 1st at Europe's Strongest Man in 2000 and won Strongest man of the Netherlands 7 times.
Jarno Hams is a strongman from the Netherlands. He participated in the World's Strongest Man in 2002 and 2003, but failed to qualify for the finals both times. Hams is a 7-time winner of Strongest Man of the Netherlands.
Regin Vágadal is a former strongman from the Faroe Islands. He was seven times Faroe Islands Strongest Man from 1994 to 2000. He also participated in the World's Strongest Man finals between 1996 and 2000.
Robert Szczepański is a Polish boxer, powerlifter and strongman competitor. Prior to competing in strongman, Szczepański coached boxing and Powerlifting, and in 1993 he won a bronze medal in boxing at the Polish Junior Championships. Robert began competing in strongman in 2002. He has a wife, Magda, and a son Dorian.
Vytautas Lalas is a Lithuanian professional strongman. He is most notable for being the winner of the 2013 Arnold Strongman Classic and the runner-up at the 2012 World's Strongest Man.
Gerard du Prie was a strongman and powerlifter from Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands. He won two world titles in the superheavyweight class (+125 kg) at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships in 1983 and 1986, both times competing in the 40–49 age group. He was the Strongest Man of the Netherlands in 1979 and runner-up in 1982. He finished in eighth place at the 1980 World's Strongest Man competition.
