Tag Archives: Colin Bryce

Giants Live 2018 Final at Manchester Arena

This was a long time coming, just a little History. I have bought tickets multiple times for the Giants Live Show and work has always clashed on the last minute so I have missed it. At Body Power 2018 I was walking by the SBD Stand taking more water to the lovely Paige Hathaway and everyone was queueing for Hafthor “The Mountain” Bjornsson and Big Z when I noticed someone, I wanted to meet and as yet hadn’t had the chance.

Colin Bryce at Body Power

Colin Bryce (right) was that person, I was more psyched to meet him than Hafthor or anyone else at the Body Power event. I told him I had bought multiple tickets, and never actually made the Giants Live show. I told him I had once emailed Giants Live about shooting there and his wife Monica basically told me “see that short pier, long walk please” only much more politely he just chuckled like it was the norm. When I met Monica she was lovely :). I had a decent chat with him about the sport and I had a little Fan boi moment too. Colin has been an Olympic bob-sleigher, a pro wrestler, even a strongman competitor but more importantly he’s been at the heart of the Strongman World for nearly a Decade and has such a vast knowledge of the sport and all athletes including those coming through and the future direction of the sport. Anyway he told me to come on down and check out the Giants Live final at the Manchester Arena in 4 months, and since its my home town I kept the weekend free and boom there I am.

It was a fantastic show, the shear amount of people involved in the show from about 50-60 arena staff, about 25 people from Giants Live, and about 20 event management people, a dozen filming and shooting, its such a huge thing and ran almost without mistakes. 

Family Friendly Event 

Giants Live Audience

Giants Live Audience

I spoke to a dozen members of the 7,000 strong audience vox pops style, many of them noted how the athletes had many friends and family in the audience. Indeed even Colin and his wife had their daughter at the event too. 

There was one chap whose phone battery had died and he had been waiting to meet Eddie Hall for an age, and he had little twin girls who was so excited but they wasn’t able to get a pic so he asked me if I could take a picture for him. He even offered to pay me, but that wouldn’t be in the spirit of strongman, so I took the pic and emailed it over him. The wee girls loved the pic.  I’ll ask the father if I can post the picture here so you guys can see them 🙂 

I can 100% without a shadow of a doubt tell you, Strongman and Giants Live are 100% a family event. There was so many excited kids, this was also commented on by some of the ShowSec Security guys, who said they had never seen so many young kids at such an event. The ShoeSec guys also commented how approachable and friendly everyone was, taking time to chat and do photos etc, unlike various other acts they names (but I won’t repeat). 

Mini-Interviews

Konstantine Janashia Traps

Konstantine Janashia Traps

First up, I caught up with the 6ft 4in, 152kg Georgian Bull aka Konstantine Janashia, sadly his English isn’t great (his words), but let me tell you it was better than my Russian. We talked about those amazing Delts / Traps and how they came about, what he thinks caused them.
 
The shortened story is that his Grandfather had them, so did his father so they are genetic much like Arnold’s Peaky Biceps. It just happens the heavy lifting nature of strongman has made those bad boys pop, and let me tell you, up close and personal those things are huge, and mighty impressive.
 
I’m going to shoot Konstantine a few more questions, as I’d like to update my previous story, and put more out there, from speaking to people there he seems like a proper character. 
 
Konstantine Janashia and Mikhail Shivlyakov

Konstantine Janashia and Mikhail Shivlyakov

I didn’t get to speak to Mikhail Shivlyakov but the comradery and sportsmanship between these two gents is truly inspiring. To the extent that they pushed each other and psyched each other up, I have little doubt neither man would have pushed as hard as they did alone.

At one point Shivlyakov was giving Janashia a head and shoulder massage and giving him a pep-talk to get him ready to smash the next event. It was non-shouting encouragement and then shouting back in Russian, a plenty of people in the audience joined in shouting too, people really got behind the pair. Interesting in the Strongman Team show, they are teaming up as Team Bear and I think they will be outstanding together.

There were similar comradery between Matjaz Belsak and Adam Bishop too. 

Eddie Hall Commentary

Eddie Hall Hosting

Eddie Hall Hosting

Eddie “The Beast” Hall was in attendance and doing the commentary, it was interesting to hear that Eddie Hall thinks the Harlequins Strength Coach is going to huge. Eddie was also blown away by Kieliszkowski’s improved technique with stones, I have said before he could improve his technique, now he has and WOW!

I am backing Martins Licis, Konstantine Janashia, Mateusz Kieliszkowski and Iron Biby to be the the new blood and heralds of change. Around a decade ago Big Z stepped up and The Dominator Stepped down, soon after Brian Shaw and Hafthor Bjornsson arrived and the podium was set. I think the same change is occurring again only this time its these 4 guys.

Eddie is returning to competition on 19th January 2019 at the Giants Live in Leeds, Eddies transformation from Deadlifting Powerhouse to Dominator-esque svelt power should be in line by then and we’ll see the new more toned Eddie. I can tell you he’s gotta be 25% smaller than last time met him in 2017. 

The Winners of Giants Live Final

Giants Live Final - Winners

Giants Live Final – Winners

The winners and the final score was somewhat of a surprise, I was expecting Kieliszkowski, Janashia, Licis to take the podium stops, but wasn’t sure what order. I was pretty sure Kieliszkowski would win, the man is just plain impressive and we have only just started to see this machine. 

1, Mateusz Kieliszkowski  – 44 Points
2, Martins Licis – 43.5 Points
3, Adam Bishop – 37.5 Points
4, Matjaz Belsak – 36 Points
5, Vytautas Lalas – 31.5 Points

Martins Licis and Mateusz Kieliszkowski

Martins Licis and Mateusz Kieliszkowski

Kieliszkowski only had 1 weak event which was the Giant Axle Press, it almost felt like watching Mariusz Pudzianowski all over again, he just dominated nearly every event, coming 1st or 2nd in all events part from the press.  Ironically Martins Licis weakest event was the Car Walk, if they both improved these fields they would have both been circling the 50s and annihilated everyone else.

There is a funny photo from when Licis see’s the final scores in black and white and he’s telling Kieliszkowski, “This close”, although I initially captioned it differently in my head. 

Body Power 2018 – Review

This years Body Power was in some ways a Giant Leap forward and in others a little bit of a step backwards. I’m going to focus on the leaps forward, as it demonstrates the organisers are listening and are taking steps. On the whole the show was a huge success I’d say, you can see my photo-set here

USN Stand at Body Power 2018

USN Stand at Body Power 2018

The ubiquitous USN was the central stage again, with almost non-stop give aways and a little bit of a Vegas themed slot machine action, where you could win something. Mostly people won protein bars and whey samples but was some other stuff. They had William “The Conqueror” Bonac and The West Twins, don’t get me start on those little monsters. Such cool lil bundles of energy, mad as a box of frogs those two. Along with various other athletes, there was a little grenade rivalry going on with shots being fire which was kinda fun but don’t think was serious. Speaking of Grenade they had Jamie Alderton who I’m sure thought we was stalking him. We saw him at breakfast, then in the show, then at dinner in the restaurant, then at the bar, then at the evening event and again at breakfast, it was like ummm “Hi Jay”, if he had been a woman I’d swear we would have been arrested for stalking.

The Body Power Expo

Each year there is a crop of complaints, one of the usual is the aisles are too narrow, this year the whole place was set out like city blocks (a tic-tac-toe board), so was huge vertical columns staged as Vegas strips which doubled as chill out / seating areas, and was wider horizontal alleys, easily 50% wider than previous years, this meant there was very few pile ups and “no cross” areas. Even where muscle food was showering the crowd you was still able to get by easily. This ground to a halt a few times like the queue for BodyBuilding.com which was just soooooooo long, you had to walk through the queue, a few other people had similar queues as well but no where was impossible to pass. 

There was also an addition of an in-show cloak room, which was operating as a “shop and drop” kiosk, so you could do your shopping and buy everything then drop it off into storage and enjoy the rest of the show, just pick it up on the way out. I used this myself, and previous years I used to take my bags out to the normal cloak room, so step forward and very useful. 

Special Mentions

Every year I pay extra attention to the athletes who seem to go that extra mile, who genuinely love their fans. Others will bad-mouth those who don’t or are having a bad day but I prefer to focus on those who go the distance, and 3 days solid at Body Power is enough to wear anyone down. 

5% Nutrition aka Rich Piana

5% Nutrition at Body Power 2018

5% Nutrition at Body Power 2018

I have said many times my views on Rich, like him or not the man loved his fans and had nothing but time for them. It was really specially to see the “5% Family” at Body Power, Martyn Ford had his missus and kid(s) at the show running around, Jens Dalsgarrd had his missus at the show, everyone seemed to be a family oriented. It was more interesting to see Martyn and Jens fooling around, and various others almost teasing each other like proper friends do. Rich always said 5%ers was his family and he was big on the camaraderie, it was really nice to see this same vibe on going. Everyone on the stand too time to chat to fans who asking questions and getting demonstrations, not a single fan was rushed or cut short. Which explains why the queue stretched back to Martyn Fords’ Gym, but everyone in the queue I spoke to seemed fine with the wait because they know they will get there time too. I even saw Jens and Martyn eat (when I say eat I mean destroy) their lunch and meals on the stand between fans rather than vanish, so fans got maximum time.

It was strange not seeing Rich there, but its good to see his legacy and family are still going strong. 

Michelle Lewin and Jimmy Lewin

Michelle Lewin and Jimmy Lewin at Body Power

Michelle Lewin and Jimmy Lewin at Body Power

I was there as Michelle and Jimmy arrived on Friday, and was setting their stand up. Rather than tell fans no thanks, we’re busy setting up the stand and getting things ready, Michelle had the platform setup, while a steady but orderly queue formed. She posed with fans, did some videos, some selfies while Jimmy set things up, every time Jimmy was wanted he came over for pics and such, while searching through boxes and cases for products people wanted to buy from the One-0-One (One Zero One) clothing range. 

I hung around an hour to help fans taking pics and leave Jimmy to set the stand up, and the whole time Michelle was lovely and chatty. I remember a few years ago, she was due on the stand (FitFuel) for 2 hours, and after about 3 hours, with a queue a mile long (literally) Jimmy got on a megaphone and was like “Michelle doesn’t want to leave without all you getting your pics and stuff, so we’re going to come down and everyone gather around, please have your phones ready or things to sign and just quickly in and out, sorry no time for questions” and she spent about another hour getting everyone done.

Simeon Panda

Simeon Panda and Chanel Coco Brown at Body Power 2018

Simeon Panda and Chanel Coco Brown at Body Power 2018

When Simeon arrived at the Body Power After Party, I had double take, he was with Mike Rachid, and I totally thought it was Jamie Foxx (dark club lights), when Simeon smiles he has that same look. Anyway Simeon spent most his time outside the VIP with the fans, chatting and taking pics and having a good time.

He was accompanied by Chanel Coco Brown who looked spectacular (see right).

At the show, he spent time talking to fans, doing video clips, shout outs and generally being a total superstar. I didn’t see him disappear for hours at a time, in fact at no point when I passed the stand he was on (Just Lift), did I see him not there with a steady queue of fan. He was always happy and smiling and a pleasure to chat too.  

Paige Hathaway

Paige is genuinely lovely, and at one point she even declared her love, she was dying of thirst and we (NJF and myself) kept taking her Sport Sense Water, Bang Energy and RockStar Energy to drink and a bag of MaoaM Sweets. She was seriously jet lagged, having difficulty sleeping and putting in long stints and still maintained a smile and took loads of time for her fans. 

Paige Hathaway at Body Power 2018

Paige Hathaway at Body Power 2018

After a long day at the show on Friday, she still attended the Pink Carpet event to launch Muscle and Fitness HERS, where she in the inaugural cover girl, where she spent a great amount of the night in a rather hot looking bandage style dress posing with fans and other names. At around 1am in the morning, she was on her way out and was stopped by a fan who wanted a magazine signing and a video message, she stopped putting her stuff down to do the message. She could have very easily kept walking with her manager/friend/notsurewho and ignored them but instead she stopped. 

On the Sunday she stayed an extra hour until her stands queue was essentially gone, then spent another half hour chatting and fooling around with the staff from the stand. At one point there was a young, small, slim guy and Paige was trying to pose for a photo where she was carrying him like a bride over the threshold. At various times some fans wanted to get pictures hugging paige or carrying her, and she was happy to oblige. 

Flex Lewis

Flex Lewis, Clarence De Vis and Olivier Richters

Flex Lewis, Clarence De Vis and Olivier Richters

Flex usually has a beast of a queue and crowds form around him like no ones business, at the After Party event, Flex spent much of his time NotInTheVIP but outside chatting with fans, other Athletes incl The Dutch Giant, Clarence De Vie, Mike Rachid and varios others. He was happy posing for pics, doing autographs, video messages and generally being around the fans. After a whole day in the show hammering it, he was still happy to carry on with fans. 

At one point was a conversation between multiple athletes and fans, where they was all sharing ideas, how often do you get names like Ulisses, Flex, Mike Rachid all in 1 place discussing work outs and techniques ? some lucky fans got exactly that. 

The above photo was during the time Flex and Clarence was fooling around with The Dutch Giant, for such a beast of a man, Flex looked tiny next to Olivier. 

The West Twins

The West Twins at Body Power 2018

The West Twins at Body Power 2018

Lucy and Jennifer West, what can you say about these two ladies, they are machines. They was bouncing around the show, running between commitments and stands, all day, then they hit the Pink Carpet event (Friday), then back in the show, then hit the After Party (Saturday) and still going 100mph on Sunday, they are absolute beasts wrapped up in a pretty bow. Everyone else who did the same looked like they was extras on the set of walking dead but these two looked ready to hit the town again Sunday evening. 

Both of them was a pleasure to chat too, they stopped randomly with any fan who asked, even stopped to graphiti my t-shirt with #WestIsBest hashtag, I joked they must be tired after the weekend and had confused my t-shirt with twitter which admittedly is a terrible joke but they was polite enough to giggle.

I can also confirm those bums are spectacular up close, and the ladies love shaking them, at any moment. 

The Pink Carpet M&F Hers Launch

 

Pink Carpet Event at Highline Bar

Pink Carpet Event at Highline Bar

The Pink Carpet launch for Muscle and Fitness HERS magazine was held at the Highline Bar in the Genting Casino, at the nearby Resorts World. I used to stay at the Crown Plaza alot, and it seems very bizarre still that such a huge complex fitted in there. It was a very much fun affair all around, a sound mixture of top athletes and general public and industry names. I was a little disappointed the organisers didn’t have an actual Pink Carpet, as its always a fun spot to joke about with them. 

The main attractions was the lovely Paige Hathaway who as always made so much time for fans and photos, even to the point where she was a walking jet-lagged zombie at 1am and she still stopped outside of the highline bar to do a video message for a fan. The following day (Saturday) Paige was back to her sweet smiley happy self despite sleep issues, she was a trooper.

Joel Corry was flitting around between mixing and taking photos and at one point, I could have sworn he was Joe Swash, just a look on his face and the way the lighting hit, that made me have a swash-flashback. Others such as BuffBunny (Heidi Somers), Jen Selter, The West Twins (these ladies are monsters, just go go go go go, non stop bundle of energy and smiles), along with the Editor of Muscle and Fitness Carl Walker and other members of the team like Nick Orton and his daughter Lucy Orton.

There were loads more I didn’t get every ones name and so many looked different out of active wear too but I gave loads of business cards out so if a hairy apeman took your pics and you want copies do email me or comment on this thread. 

The After Party

Ulisses at Body Power After Party

Ulisses at Body Power After Party

The official Body Power After Party were held at the NEC Hall 6 on the Saturday night and again were well attended Jay Alderton, Flex Lewis, Mike Rachid, The Dutch Giant Chanel Coco Brown, The West Twins, Clarence De Vie, Simeon Panda and loads more who I forgot. 

There were some entertainers such as clowns, stilt walkers and various other entertainers, along with Las Vegas style Casino Games and Dodgems Car Rides. A great number of the athletes spent most their time outside of the VIP room for most of the night and socialised with fans. Flex Lewis went from a casual conversation with a few other athletes to a mile long queue for photo’s, autographs and more, and spent half his night doing that. He could have hidden away in the VIP or kept out the way instead he had spent the time.

There are some funny photo’s from Flex and the Ducth Giant talking, at at one point flex was shouting “I can’t hear you” holding his hand to his ear because the other dude was so big, there’s photos of them messing about and having a giggle. 

Around 1,000 people attended the after party, and by all accounts it was a good night for all. 

Stand Out Stands

Sport Sense Artesian Water

Sport Sense Artesian Water

As has become tradition I single out a few stands which are worthy of a mention, on this occasion there are a few Rockstars, and some loud Bangs in there too. 

Rockstar energy was keeping everyone hydrated as was Hemp Water, Bang Energy and Sport Sense.

Sport Sense Water

I was really impressed with Sport Sense water, a Polish Artesian Water, which has a neutral 7.4ph and limited supply and what really impressed me was the bottle is bio-degradable, in around 15 yrs it turns into mush and minerals and is absorbed into the soil. Which means even if they end up in landfill or the oceans the bottle will eventually vanish. IF we can’t ensure they don’t end up in the wrong places, we can ensure they ain’t around for 100s of years. 

NOCCO

Year after year for the last 4-5 years at Body Power NOCCO has been knocking the ball out of the park with their drinks, and starting last year their protein bars / mousse via Barebells, and this year is no exception. Who knew those crazy swedes could create absolutely amazing tasting drinks. My conclusion is, the fact they are not at all cheap, is the reason they are low calorie, low sugar, and taste amazing, because they haven’t made it to a price, they have made them to a taste, regardless of the price.

Barebells New Protein Shakes

Barebells New Protein Shakes

I don’t think there was a single product I sampled by NOCCO or Barebells which wasn’t delicious and I would happily make myself ill gorging on them, its so bad I refused to start this year because last year I ate and ate and ate them.

Bang Energy

Bang Energy are BCAA and Amino based energy drinks, and their Cherry and Vanilla flavour one tastes EXACTLY like a cherry sherbet dib-dab, they also had a small army of promo-girls half of which was clearly insane. 

At under 10kcal per 500ml these was also a really top end product. 

RockStar Drinks

Rockstar Energy Drinks

Rockstar Energy Drinks

RockStar Energy drinks was a traditional caffeine, ginseng, b-vits based energy drink, and their new mixed berry flavour drink is outstanding. Unlike many other similar drinks this doesn’t get sickly, and at under 30kcals a can (500ml) its quite a lightweight too. I think this is because of the 5% fruit juices. 

All four of the above companies (Nocco, Bang, Rockstar and Sport Sense) really stood out in the drinks sector. 

Food wise the BareBells as above, their new range of protein shakes, the Banana and Chocolate was amazing but also the stand with the Vac Fried Broccoli Crisp was delicious, shame they are so expensive, around £3 for a standard sized bag 🙁 but they was outstanding and way better than potato chips.

There were so many yummy products to try, but those are the ones which stuck out in my mind. 

Missed Names

CT Fletcher

There was a number people who I was hoping would be there or have been missed from previous years. For me Lacy Kay Summers who is always a delight, Jade Katy is is a home town (Manchester) babe.

CT Fletcher

I was hoping the Vegas theme would have brought more of the American Names, the guy I missed the most was CT Fletcher who has just had Heart Surgery, by that I mean a heart transplant, the man is recovering well but certainly missed, get well CT, and Its Still Your Mother Fucking Set brother. 

Eddie Hall

Eddie “The Beast” Hall was missing as was the Xplosive Ape stand, which I have bought about 20+ t-shirts off every year, which meant Krzysztof Radzikowski wasn’t around either, however Donna Moore was on the SBD Stand but all 3 are usually on Xplosive Ape, sadly missed.  

Brian Shaw

I was also hoping with Hathor Bjornsson, Zydrunas Savickas, Laurence Shahlaei, Terry Hollands, and various other big names that Brian Shaw who is also a really nice guy would also be there, could you imagine Zydrunas, Hall, Thor, Brian and Kazmeier all under one roof, little too much to hope for I guess. 

Robert Oberst
Some others like Robert Oberst wasn’t there, despite his shit-talking about England and his heel like behaviour at UK events he’s a sound bloke, and very friendly.

The Unexpected

Colin Bryce at Body Power

Colin Bryce at Body Power

I wasn’t expecting to meet Colin Bryce, oddly I’ve never met him, I’ve met nearly everyone else but never come across Colin, so when I saw him on the SBD Stand, I literally made a bee-line for him. We had a little chat, about Giants (as in the really big people, not Giants the contest).

Really cool guy, and later I heard him shout Steven.co.uk as I went by, so joked that’s my new name then. Will be looking forward to seeing Colin on the 15th September for the Manchester Finals of Giants Live which could be Eddie Halls final outing. 

I also ran into bunch of Bikini Competitors, including Cesca (mtb_bunny) who lovely and tried at hand at the Classic Strongman event Thors Hammer Hold and to be fair, she held it up for about 45-50 seconds, which is longer than I saw quite a men do it for, and she declared that 4 wines made her do it. She was a trooper though and really fun, a few of the other competitors was really chilled and nice too.  

Strongest Of All Time #SOAT

Zydrunas Savickas and Bill Kaz Kazmaier

Zydrunas Savickas and Bill Kaz Kazmaier

I was listening to the Worlds Strongest Man PodCast (yeah I’m late) and they were talking about the Strongest Of All Time Strongmen, and only Eddie Hall pulled an old school strongman out of the mix (Louis Cyr) where as most others were concentrating mostly on WSM guys, which is an understandable mistake to make given the context. Brian Shaw refused to name a 3rd but gave mention to Mariusz Pudzianowski and some others, he was the only one to mention the dominator too. 

In short most people said Bill Kazmaier, Jon Pall Sigmarsson and Zydrunas Savickas. The latter is the more interesting one because these are his peers and they are name checking him, which is a huge thing. It would like like Jenson Button saying Lewis Hamilton is the best driver of all time. I was really surprised that they named an active strongman, but equally I loved that they did. 

Colin Bryce made some good points about why Brian Shaw may not be remembered for the monster that he is because he doesn’t really show off and doesn’t finish events if he doesn’t need the points. Basically he doesn’t play the crowd, he’s playing just for points and the win. I say for no reason because last years WSM 2016, there were a moment where Thor and Eddie agreed to end it on the deadlift and take equal first points. Eddie played the points because he has dislocated his fingers and we know he could have done more but he played tactics due to injury. Zydrunas on the other hand near enough threw away his win by going for a world record log press, and often shows off his brute strength. 

My Strongest Of All Time

I am aware there are guys moving nearly 4x their body weight, and Olympic lifters with amazing numbers but I’m sticking within the spirit of Strongman and the extremes of human performance 🙂

Arthur Saxon Bent Press

Arthur Saxon Bent Press

Author Saxon – Arthur Saxon were born nearly 100 years before Worlds Strongest Man even existed, he nearly envisioned the WSM TV Format and some of his world record breaking feats still stand today.

There were no steroids, no growth, no intimate muscle knowledge or training techniques, very little body building knowledge existed. Still his feats are impressive, even more so for a man his size.  

There were so little available knowledge that Arthur Saxon (and his brothers) wrote a huge amount of the available literature at the time on how to get fit, strong and healthy, how to build a better body and generally documenting physical culture.

Much of the 100 year old advice given in his books (which are copyright free now) is still relevant today and even being touted as “new ideas” by modern science. 

Arthur invented the Saxon Side Bend which is one of my favourite core and abdominal moves, he used to eat like a beast, drink like a fish and even went to war with a dapper moustache.

What A Man! 

Zydrunas Savickas at Body Power 2017

Zydrunas Savickas at Body Power 2017

Zydrunas “Big Z” Savickas – The greatest in a long line of Lithuanian strongmen, having just turned 40 years old and holding 4 Worlds Strongest Man titles (matching Brian Shaw), with only 1 man holding more titles (The Dominator). Big Z is obviously the king of current day strongmen with even many of his peers saying the same thing.

When others struggle with events at Worlds Strongest Man, you see Big Z thunder up, the ground shaking under his steps, the crowd wide eyed and he lifts the weight like it wasn’t even there an shows his peers hows its done and strolls away.

I have met Big Z a number of times at various events, a fairly quiet man, doesn’t catch all that you say due to the language barrier and noise at the events but a really really nice guy and quite funny too.

At Body Power 2017, Bill Kazmaier did the forearm flex for a photo and Big Z stood up and did the same and his forearms are HUGE and made Kaz’s look normal size so Kaz took a step closer to the camera and pushed Zydrunas back a little and just a little fooling around between 2 legends of strongman.

 

Bill Kazmaier at Body Power 2017

Bill Kazmaier at Body Power 2017

Bill “Kaz” Kazmaier – When it comes to one of the early days legends of strongman, its all about Bill Kazmaier, while Jon Pall may have been the showman it were Kaz who were the berserker powerhouse.

I will always remember his eyes bulging out like Jim Carreys Mask Character and him slapping himself in the face Rowdy Roddy Piper style getting the rage up. 

Much like Eddie Hall having broken the 500kg Deadlift Barrier for the World Record, Kaz were the first man to break the 400kg Deadlift barrier for the World Record.

The fact they have Bill doing the commentary for world strongest man is awesome for me, along with Magnus they add some informed colour in to it. They KNOW what they are they talking about and what it takes. 

I’ve also met Kaz a few times and he’s also a really nice guy, and gave me a little interview a few years ago. I did want to get an interview for my blog this year when I spoke to him but he were just so damned busy when I met him, maybe next time. 

The Feats

I haven’t really gone on too much about what they have done and what makes them the strongest because you guys can read my Arthur Saxon post and the other 2 guys are well wrote about online so I won’t cover them again. 

This concludes my strongest of all time strongmen #SOAT.

Eddie Hall – Worlds Strongest Man 2017

Eddie Hall at Body Power 2015

Eddie Hall at Body Power 2015

Last year one of the top 5 had been injured and in my opinion that’s why he got the podium last year, but that little taste of the podium seems to have pushed Eddie Hall to new heights. All that rarefied air drove Eddie Hall to new heights, heights so great he took the top spot to be crowned Worlds Strongest Man 2017 in Botswana.

Its not all celebrations since Eddie has taken hit time on the podium to follow through with his pledge to retire from Worlds Strongest Man when he won, but remain on the British Scene. Eddie is the first British Strongman to take the Top Spot in 24 years since Gary Taylor took it in 1993, before that it was the mighty Geoff Capes almost a decade before. 

Eddie’s win isn’t without a little controversy (more in the spoiler), but who cares we may get some of that Olympic Mania funding around Strongman now and it will get more popular and more gym equipment, whoop. I remember back in the late 80s maybe early 90s going to the local nature park for a carnival or summer fair to see Geoff Capes, it was a huge fanfare, lets see those days again.

Eddies Words

I can't say how I've done at wsm but I can say I'm now retired from wsm! I'll still be on the British scene for many years to come and I thank all my fans and sponsors and my family and friends to the moon and back. Massive thanks to my wife who I dearly love and ow a lot of my success to her. Also my manager Mo Chaudry not only changed my life for the better but one of my best friends. Big Love The Beast @proteindynamix @xploape @strengthasylum @alphadesignsuk @bobosbeard @blakemans @wrightspies @pulseworldwide @getnewage @sbdapparel @giantslive #alphadesign #wrightspies #strengthasylum #giants #giantslive #proteindynamix #bobosbeardoil #beast #beard #deadlift #deadlifts #boss #bosslife #hulk #strong #strongman #strongmantraining #pulse #getnewage #performance #mouthguard #SBD #supports #SBDapparel

A post shared by Eddie hall (@eddie_hall_strong) on

Spoiler Alert

Don’t click the following if you don’t want to know the final scores and line up: [toggle title=”Spoiler”]The top 3 were the ever predictable Eddie Hall (51 Points), Hafthor Bjornsson (50 Points) and Brian Shaw (49 Points) with only a single point separating them. Hafthor believed he should have won but lost on a referee’s decision that one of his reps didn’t count giving Hall 1 point, and the win. Had that that not happened, Thor would have won, Eddie Second and Brian Shaw Third. Thor posted on Instagram that he believed he was robbed, so little bit upset. Lets hope Eddie doesn’t end up like Oberyn Martell with a crushed head at the hands of The Mountain.

Final Placements

1. Eddie Hall – 51 points
2. Hafthor Bjornsson – 50 points
3. Brian Shaw – 49 points
4. Jean-Francois Caron
5. Mateusz Kieliszkowski
6. Martins Licis
7. Laurence Shahlaei
8. Zydrunas Savickas
9. Konstantine Janashia
10. Nick Best

[/toggle].

The Final Word

Laurence Shahlaei at Body Power

Laurence Shahlaei at Body Power 2017

It would appear that Zyndrunas Savickas’ Upper and Lower back injuries not to mention huge weight loss has reduced his odds of joining the 5x club. Maybe Colin Bryce was right when he said earlier in the year that unless Big Z stops being more like Medium Z and gets back to being Big Z his chances aren’t good (Dec 2016 in WSM PodCast).

Its almost reminiscent of Mark Felix who has taken up Cross-Fit, lost a huge amount of weight and looks damned good for a 50yr old man. The price has been his raw strength, has Big Z fallen in to the same trap. Better question, is the weight loss because of his back injuries ?  

Some strong shows from other finalists, including Laurence Shahlaei who is the come back kid, having retired once now he’s back in the top 10 worlds strongest men again, sporting a rather nice beard. 

Its also interesting that Hafthor has made his 6 consecutive podium place, but its also a shame Mark Felix didn’t make this is 10th consecutive final, but I can’t wait to watch this when its on TV.