World’s Strongest Man

World's Strongest Man

The World’s Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The event has a number of rival and parallel competitions with which it is sometimes confused. The current event sponsor is Tachi Palace.

About World’s Strongest Man in brief

Summary World's Strongest ManThe World’s Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The event has a number of rival and parallel competitions with which it is sometimes confused. The current event sponsor is Tachi Palace. Previous sponsors include Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker. com. There are now several documentaries available that chart the history of WSM. The first major one is Worlds Strongest man – Thirty Years Of Pain from 2008, celebrating the 30th anniversary. In 2017, a series of videos were released in recognition of the 40th anniversary of the contest. The concept behind the contest was developed in 1977 for CBS by Langstar Inc. David Webster, a Scot who later received an OBE for his services to sport, was the head coordinator of the competition from its inception. Dr. Douglas Edmunds, seven-time Scottish shot and discus champion and twice world caber champion, worked with Webster and when Webster retired Edmunds took over. In 1995, Jon Pallen became the first man to claim 4 titles, meaning the governing body formed a governing body for the event called Most Powerful Man. In 1987, the first and only non-team Pure Strength competition was held but it was not part of the WSM franchise.

The competition has the largest purse of any Strongman contest, with a USD 72,000+ top prize in 2017. It was originally held in American locations until it was moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, in 1983. Two-time winner Bruce Wilhelm retired and was succeeded by the massive Don Reinhoudt in 1979, 162 kg heavyweight powerlifter of the USA. In 1982, CBS sold the rights to the BBC, who in turn sold therights to TWI. In 1983, the contest ranks consisted mostly of American football players, powerlifters, and bodybuilders. In 1985, former Olympian Geoff Capes from the UK, traded wins with the Icelandic powerlifted Jón Páll Sigmarsson, with Capes winning in 1983 and 1985, and Sigmarson in 1984 and 1986. In 1988, Sigmarisman would defeat Capes and Kazmaier in Pure Strength. In 1989, Jamie Reeves was the only other man to win the title in this era, which he did in 1989. In 1990, O.K. Wilson, who narrowly claimed his 4th title ahead of O. K. Kinnunen and Marcel Kinnert, became the most larger competitor in WSM history. He died 3 years after winning his 4 fourth and final WSM in 1990 in 1990. In 2011, the much larger Jon Pallkunen won the event and the body of the field was much larger on the back on the way down. In 2012, the world’s largest bodybuilder, Marcel Kinnen, won the title.