The World’s Strongest Man competition takes over the world
The World’s Strongest Man competition, or the WSM as it is known, is a very interesting sporting contest that takes place annually to find the strongest man on the planet. It is a very simple concept, huge men with massive muscles take part in various events that require them to showcase superhuman feats of strength and a winner is crowned. The competition has been running for more than thirty years and during that time some insanely strong individuals have come and gone. This competition is a lot more entertaining to watch than watching hugely muscled men strutting around posing in tiny pants. The competition looks all set to grow in the coming years and become even more popular than it currently is.
The World’s Strongest Man contest started out in 1977, as a competition that would gauge the strength of individuals through unique and innovative tests and challenges. This interesting sporting contest was developed for the broadcasting company CBS. David Webster and Dr. Douglas Edmunds both worked together to create the events and oversee the competition since its inception. The rights of the programme were sold by CBS, then to the BBC who later sold them on to TWI. In the first year the competition was broadcast and run, Bruce Wilhelm became the first winner of the World’s Strongest Man. He managed to repeat the feat the next year and then came the dominance of Bill Kazmaier. This immensely strong American won the contest three years in a row from 1980 to 1982. Over the years many more strongmen have come and gone but the current champion Mariusz Pudzianowski has won the title of strongest man for a record five times. This Polish hulk of a man looks unstoppable and his record looks unbeatable.
The WSM has some of the world’s most interesting and unique events ever to be conceived for athletes to take part in. Very interesting feats of strength are featured such as the Anvil, Anchor and Chain carry. Each anvil weighs 130kg while the anchor and chain both weigh 300kg each. The athletes have to carry each item over a set distance and the one who does it in the fastest time wins. Another interesting event is called the Giant Log Lift. Athletes have to lift a 380kg log over their heads and the one who completes the most repetitions is declared the winner. A new event is called the Plane Pull and this has athletes pulling a 70 tonne plane across a set distance using a harness and rope. The one to pull it in the fastest time possible wins. The final event in all competitions is the very popular and hugely entertaining Atlas Stones. In this event, competitors compete in pairs and they have to lift 5 stones and place them onto platforms before their opponent does so. The stones keep getting heavier while the platforms keep getting higher and this event has been used for years to determine the eventual winner of the competition.
Nowadays it seems WSM athletes are branching out and trying new things. The five-time world champion, Mariusz Pudzianowski, wants to give MMA a try. He wants to fight against the current number one MMA heavyweight in the world, Fedor Emelianenko. The huge Polish strongman thinks at the moment he would lose very badly but he feels that in a few years he will be ready to take on all comers. He is looking to start his MMA career with a fight against former UFC Heavyweight champion Tim Sylvia. Pudzianowski claimed that it would be a good opening fight for him because he felt that Sylvia was well past his prime and would not pose too much of a challenge to him. The huge Polish heavyweight would need to shed some weight if he wants to make the cut to be legally able to compete in MMA fights. It will be interesting to see what the future holds for this record-holding strongman.
The WSM is one of the world’s most interesting sport competitions and is watched and broadcasted all over the world. It is truly a global event and looks all set to grow in the future. As more competitors from different countries take part, the global reach of the contest will increase and it will soon take over the entire world.
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