Favorite Strongman of the past

[dave barron]

OK, this one's a little more subjective. My picks:

Gerrit Badenhorst - one of the greatest deadlifters ever, nice guy, great showman.
Jon Pall - All-around athlete, always entertaining to watch.
Greg Ernst - if only for the beard and braids. I met him in Nova Scotia, quite a guy.

Yes, I'm bored at work.

[Elliot_Storey]

Gregg Ernst is my all-time favorite. Some of his comments were pure gold. And being from Maine, while it's not the same, I still love his accent.

"I think I fear the event more than the man"

[D.Norris]

Gary Taylor!

[Garrick Daft]

No doubt about it.... Svend Karlsen

[Mac Smith]

Kaz goes without mentioning, so I would have to say John Gamble, Badenhorst, Gary Taylor.

It's kinda hard for me to consider Sven Karlsen a 'past' strongman because it doesn't seem like he's that old. I thought we were talking about strongmen from the 70's, 80's, and early 90's. I guess I'm getting old! LOL!!!!

[Jonathan Macfarlane]

Gerrit is the only one I've ever met, when I was around 11 and 14, remember both times CLEARLY.

I'll be honest, the first few times I watched strongman on TV, I just about worshipped Janne Virtanen. He was just fantastic, truly embodied the viking ideal, tall, strong and determined.


Now that I've watched the sport a bit, I'd probably lean towards Jon Pall.

[Joshua Davis]

Jouko Ahola

[Michael Douglas - uk]

For me chaps it has to be sven, i also liked bergmanis (if i can include him) as he always gave the impression that he was enjoying every minute of a comp, i liked the way he worked the crowd, alot more effective than just throwing a t-shirt in the crowd after posing.

I also like jamie reeves, especially when he was a referee on wsm contests, his no-nonsense style and one-liners were great stuff, ie "it does exactly what it says on the tin" and "if you cant deadlift your not a strongman" which is absolutley spot on, if your not very good at the deadlift you probably will never be a wsm.

[Mike Stewart]

I have three favorites. 2 current and 1 from the past. Magnus Sameulsson, who I've been a fan of since I saw his first WSM competition in 1995. Jesse is my other current favorite. I'm not kissing butt. I've been a fan of his since I first saw him around 5 years ago. The man who really got me interested in it and who I watched over and over on ESPN reruns from the 80's(who is my past fav) is Kaz. :D

[RyanJohnston]

Jouko Ahola and Svend Karlsen.

[DaneGarreau]

Jouko Ahola
Me too. Crazy brute strength as well as a ton of speed.

I'm also a big fan of Badenhorst and MvM.

[Aaron Ramsey]

KAZ and O.D. Wilson!!!!!!!!!!!

[jay lyttle]

KAZ, but i have a place in my heart for the underdogs.
tom magee, smallish for a strongman but incredibally strong and gave everyone a run for their money.
ab wolders, was always in the top five.

[Kevin Klavetter]

Mine would be...

Kaz (I think that is a given)
Jouko Ahola
Magnus Sameulsson
Odd Haugen

[Scott Markowitz]

Being a former Okie transplant, I always liked Whit Baskin. It's a crying shame that he had that car wreck. If he'd have had more time on the implements he'd have surely made some noise in the finals. That and been a few inches taller - it's hard to do well on the stones when he had to balance them on his forehead to load them.

That, and he gave me and my wife lunch at his parents' restaurant whenever we went to Durant. Helluva nice guy.

I also liked Svend K. and Magnus S. My wife always liked the "little" Samuelsson, Torbjorn - she has a thing for long hair (which kind of makes me wonder...)

I enjoy watching guys who look like they are enjoying themselves. The whole "intense" thing is fine, but it's not my style.

[Arnell Castillo]

Jouko Ahola, Derrick Boyer , Whit Baskin

[Mike Landrich]

Don Reinhoudt is, without a doubt, my favorite. I have known Don for years and he is the nicest guy you could ever meet. Honorable mentiosn to MVM and Gary Taylor. There are many more who were great, but these 3 were standouts.

[Paul F.X. Armstrong]

Being a former Okie transplant, I always liked Whit Baskin. It's a crying shame that he had that car wreck. If he'd have had more time on the implements he'd have surely made some noise in the finals. That and been a few inches taller - it's hard to do well on the stones when he had to balance them on his forehead to load them.



He was destined for great things IMHO.
Give Whit some low platforms for the stones and he was as fast as anyone of that era.
One year @ nationals won that event with a time that would be competitive now,IMHO.

His deadlift hold for time against Fekate(still a world record-?- was memorable).
Very Fast and athletic but good squat,bench deadlift and overhead press too.

Scott you might remember the year but he was in the WSM prelims and the ONLY way he was not going to make it to the WSM finals was IF he got last place in the last event(was a Medley)he ran out of gas,was last place in that event and didn't make it----
Crowd loved him too---'The Giant Killer'(@5'10 or 5'11', 260-270)

[Mac Smith]

Man, I can't believe I forgot OD Wilson. Having known the man, he was probably one of the strongest people ever to walk to earth and a great guy also.

[Scott Markowitz]

He was destined for great things IMHO.
Give Whit some low platforms for the stones and he was as fast as anyone of that era.
One year @ nationals won that event with a time that would be competitive now,IMHO.

His deadlift hold for time against Fekate(still a world record-?- was memorable).
Very Fast and athletic but good squat,bench deadlift and overhead press too.

Scott you might remember the year but he was in the WSM prelims and the ONLY way he was not going to make it to the WSM finals was IF he got last place in the last event(was a Medley)he ran out of gas,was last place in that event and didn't make it----
Crowd loved him too---'The Giant Killer'(@5'10 or 5'11', 260-270)

IIRC, he was only at WSM in 99 and 2000 (his accident was in Dec 00). I don't recall which year that was. He won 3 of the 6 events, but crashed and burned on the others.

After he healed up, he went on to finish his degree and does some personal training. He still lifts (and has a boatload of implements in his yard, including a pretty vicious Conan's wheel). The last two times he's competed that I'm aware of he's ended up not performing as well as he'd like due to injury.

He was the first pro I ever really talked to (I met him at a contest in Shreveport in late 2002, where I met lots of pros - Schoonie, Jesse, Walt Gogola, Hugo G., Dominic F. (who was, if you can believe it, even bigger then), Travis Lyndon, Geoff Dolan and a couple of others who I can't recall off the top of my head - all were nice enough, but they were generally focused on the competition). Whit was doing as exhibition car DL hold that night. My wife and I were walking toward the arena and passed him talking to some girls on the sidewalk (he's a hell of a flirt, too) and we stopped to talk. When we told him we'd come down from OKC, he gave us a couple of pink "Whit's Angels" t-shirts (which were a size too small, but I used to wear them to work out in anyway). He tok me out on the floor and had me try out some of the implements (the log was set at, I think, 300#, so I just deadlifted it, and the farmer's were I think 315 per hand, so I picked up one with both hands and got my wife to take pics). We kept in touch. When my wife's job took her to Durant, I went along and we met him at his parent's restaurant for lunch, which he insisted on buying. The next time we were there, he and I and a couple of other guys trained on his implements. I'd have loved to have made it down there more often, but it was a long drive and I was in law school at the time. His strongman accomplishments aside, Whit and his family are first class in my book.

[Adam Keep]

alot more effective than just throwing a t-shirt in the crowd after posing.

You've said this same thing a couple of times now. What's up with that? Do you have a personal problem with someone doing this?

I don't really have a fav strongman of the past. I just love watching all of the competitors from back in the day. They all just had brute strength and would put every ounce of what they had into finishing an event.

[Michael Douglas - uk]

[QUOTE=Adam Keep]You've said this same thing a couple of times now. What's up with that? Do you have a personal problem with someone doing this?

I don't really have a fav strongman of the past. I just love watching all of the competitors from back in the day. They all just had brute strength and would put every ounce of what they had into finishing an event.[/QUOT

to be honest mate im just fed up with people arse licking shite strongmen !

[Adam Keep]

[QUOTE=Adam Keep]You've said this same thing a couple of times now. What's up with that? Do you have a personal problem with someone doing this?

I don't really have a fav strongman of the past. I just love watching all of the competitors from back in the day. They all just had brute strength and would put every ounce of what they had into finishing an event.[/QUOT

to be honest mate im just fed up with people arse licking shite strongmen !

Who is "arse licking" and who is a "shite strongman"?

[Mac Smith]

[QUOTE=Adam Keep]You've said this same thing a couple of times now. What's up with that? Do you have a personal problem with someone doing this?

I don't really have a fav strongman of the past. I just love watching all of the competitors from back in the day. They all just had brute strength and would put every ounce of what they had into finishing an event.[/QUOT

to be honest mate im just fed up with people arse licking shite strongmen !


Quit being a punk ass and be a man a call out Jesse, Mike!!! It's obvious you are talking about him. Have some balls and put it in your post. If someone mentions Jesse, it's not ass kissing, the kid is good! He was the youngest (at the time) to make it to the WSM and for only being 28-29 yrs old, he's been there more than any American pro in recent history (except for Pfister).

And to call him a shite strongman, how many contests and WSM appearances have you got?

Again, if you are going to be a prick, holla the dudes name and challenge him like a man. Quit being a pu$$y and trying to back door the guy!!!

Rant over!!! :EP:

[Hassen Morad]

Man, I'm so happy people remember Whit Baskin. That guy had the biggest heart of any strongman I've seen (and I know he wasn't competing for too long). That car deadlift for time in '99 was legendary. It's so disappointing to know he won't compete again because, like you guys said, he was destined for greatness.

Other than Whit, though, Svend Karlsen and Jon Pall are 2 of my favorite strongman.

[Rus Mandery]

I always thought Gerrit Badenhorst was a badass!

[Adam Keep]

Quit being a punk ass and be a man a call out Jesse, Mike!!! It's obvious you are talking about him. Have some balls and put it in your post. If someone mentions Jesse, it's not ass kissing, the kid is good! He was the youngest (at the time) to make it to the WSM and for only being 28-29 yrs old, he's been there more than any American pro in recent history (except for Pfister).

And to call him a shite strongman, how many contests and WSM appearances have you got?

Again, if you are going to be a prick, holla the dudes name and challenge him like a man. Quit being a pu$$y and trying to back door the guy!!!

Rant over!!! :EP:

AMEN! That is what I was getting at, I was just waiting for him to say it.

[Hassen Morad]

I always thought Gerrit Badenhorst was a badass!

Yea, definitely. Probably the best strongman not to win WSM, after Savickas.

[Ian Duggan]

to be honest mate im just fed up with people arse licking shite strongmen !
You're "fed up"? You've just started posting here, you joined a little over a month ago, and all you've done is ask stupid questions or make crap, ill-informed statements.

You went from asking if athletes from IFSA could compete in WSMSS and WSC, to declaring that all the good athletes were in IFSA, and that it was the greatest competition of them all.

You've got 16 posts on here, and they've all been nonsense.

You're fed up with people "arse licking"? Yeah, well I'm fed up with little morons talk smack on the internet that they wouldn't even dare THINK in the actual presence of the person they're talking about.

[Luke Paskins]

someone online being a fool? No! Surely not....My entire ontology has just collapsed.

Ahem, Jesse's cool. How many other people on this forum have achieved what he has? Some but not too many I bet.

As for throwing one's shirt into the audience, well I'd do it if I thought the ladies would wanna see it.Which is doubtful in my case.

And to round things off, as a proud Irishman, I was VERY surprised to see a UK gentleman acting like a dick.That has never happened beofre in the whole of history.

Lovely, a free deapan humour lesson for my American friends. Ricky Gervais has saved British culture single-handedly.

[Jason Thurston]

I've always liked Bergmanis, Samuelson, and Mark Philipi.