Britain's Strongest Man

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Britain's Strongest Man
Tournament information
LocationUnited Kingdom
Established1979; 45 years ago (1979)
Number of
tournaments
41
FormatMulti-event competition
Current champion
Scotland Tom Stoltman

Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the

TWI and serves as a qualifying event for the World's Strongest Man
("WSM") competition, also a TWI production.

History and broadcast

In a history that has close parallels with that of the

Bill Anderson and Grant Anderson, wrestler Big Pat Roach, and Tosher Killingback; it was won by Geoff Capes.[4]
The contestants were there by invitation and the format continued until 1984. There was then a break of three years, from 1985 through 1988, before the competition returned in 1989.

In 1986, there was a "

Five the following year until 2009. Digital channel Bravo covered the event in 2009 and 2010 before its closure; free-to-air channel Challenge took over coverage until it returned to Channel 5 in 2014.[3] The competition is currently sponsored by Met-Rx. As of 2017, Channel 5 currently broadcasts an episode devoted to the Britain's Strongest Man contest, as part of its annual World's Strongest Man coverage, in late December.[5]

Events

Events for the competition include tyre flips, chain drags, Atlas stones and keg tossing.[6]

Rival and parallel competitions

  • In 2005 the 'IFSA Strongman British Championship' (or "British Championships (IFSA)") was held in direct competition with the BSM. However, this was short lived, lasting just one year, with the more established BSM gaining better sponsorship (from Met-Rx) and television coverage (Sky One) largely due to its longevity, its qualifying status for World's Strongest Man and also its perception amongst the strongman community as the chief competition. The winner of this breakaway competition, Mark Felix, has since put his energies into competing in the BSM.
  • A more enduring rival competition is the
    UK Strongest Man
    'Ultimate Strength Challenge', which began in 1992 and still continues today. However, competing in the BSM and the UKSC is not mutually exclusive and competitors are free to compete in both. This event is run by the UKSC - the UK Strength Council, and focuses more on pure strength rather than strength and speed.
  • Other rival or parallel competitions that should not be confused with the BSM are:

List of champions

Year Champion Runner-up 3rd place Location
1979 England Geoff Capes
Bill Anderson
England Jim Whitehead Woking Leisure Centre, Woking
1980 England Richard Slaney Scotland Jack Hynd England Steve Zetolofsky London, South Bank
1981 England Geoff Capes Scotland Hamish Davidson England Richard Slaney London
1982 England Richard Slaney Scotland Hamish Davidson Brighton, Sussex
1983 England Geoff Capes Scotland Jack Hynd Wales John Burns Nottingham
1984 Northern Ireland Allan Crossley England Pete Tancred & England Peter Welch Telford. Shropshire
1985 Not held
1986[a] England Pete Tancred Peter Davis Joe Walker Epping Forest Country Club, Epping Forest
1987 Not Held
1988[b] England Jamie Reeves
Mark Higgins
Jersey Peter Tregloan Tadcaster
1989 England Jamie Reeves TBC TBC TBC
1990 England Adrian Smith Wales Gary Taylor TBC TBC
1991 Wales Gary Taylor England Christopher Miles TBC TBC
1992 England Jamie Reeves TBC TBC TBC
1993 Scotland Forbes Cowan Wales Gary Taylor? TBC TBC
1994 England Bill Pittuck TBC TBC TBC
1995 Scotland Forbes Cowan Wales Gary Taylor Scotland Jamie Barr Gateshead
1996 England Russel Bradley TBC TBC TBC
1997
Rob Dixon
Northern Ireland Glenn Ross Wales Gary Taylor TBC
1998 England Jamie Reeves England Russ Bradley Northern Ireland Glenn Ross TBC
1999 Northern Ireland Glenn Ross England Steve Brooks Scotland Jamie Barr Alton Towers
2000 Northern Ireland Glenn Ross England Steve Brooks Scotland Brian Bell Alton Towers
2001 Northern Ireland Glenn Ross
Rob Dixon
England Adrian Rollinson Minehead
2002 England Marc Iliffe Scotland Gregor Edmunds England Bill Pittuck Haven Holiday Park and Criccieth Castle
2003
Rich Gosling
Scotland Gregor Edmunds Northern Ireland Glenn Ross Scarborough
2004
Rich Gosling
Ade Rollinson
England Oli Thompson Minehead
2005 England Mick Gosling Republic of Ireland Carl Waitoa
Ade Rollinson
Dudley Castle
2006 England Oli Thompson England Mark Felix[c] England Terry Hollands Isle of Man
2007 England Terry Hollands England Mark Felix[c] England Darren Sadler Minehead
2008 England Jimmy Marku[d] England Terry Hollands England Mark Felix[c] Minehead
2009 Not held
2010 Not held
2011 See Clash of the Giants below
2012 England Laurence Shahlaei England Terry Hollands England Chris Gearing Colchester, Essex
2013 England Laurence Shahlaei United States Jerry Pritchett England Terry Hollands Gateshead International Stadium, Gateshead
2014 England Eddie Hall England Graham Hicks England Laurence Shahlaei
Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
2015[e] England Eddie Hall England Mark Felix Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski
Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
2016 England Eddie Hall England Mark Felix England Laurence Shahlaei
Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
2017 England Eddie Hall England Laurence Shahlaei England Graham Hicks
Doncaster Dome, Doncaster
2018 England Eddie Hall England Graham Hicks England Terry Hollands
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
2019 England Graham Hicks England Adam Bishop Scotland Tom Stoltman
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
2020 England Adam Bishop Scotland Tom Stoltman Scotland Luke Stoltman
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
2021 Scotland Tom Stoltman England Adam Bishop England Graham Hicks
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
2022 Scotland Tom Stoltman Republic of Ireland Pa O'Dwyer England Adam Bishop
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
2023 England Adam Bishop Wales Gavin Bilton England Graham Hicks
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
2024 Scotland Tom Stoltman Wales Gavin Bilton Scotland Luke Stoltman
FlyDSA Arena, Sheffield
Notes
  1. ^ "Britain's Most Powerful Man" was the name of the competition in 1986
  2. ^ Titled John Smith's Trial of Strength
  3. ^ a b c Mark Felix was formerly of  Grenada.
  4. ^ Jimmy Marku was formerly of  Albania.
  5. ^ Several competitors from other European countries took part.

By country

Country Titles
 England 31
 Scotland 5
 Northern Ireland 4
 Wales 1

Repeat champions

Champion Times
England Eddie Hall 5
England Jamie Reeves 4
England Geoff Capes 3
Northern Ireland Glenn Ross 3
Scotland Tom Stoltman 3
England Richard Slaney 2
Scotland Forbes Cowan 2
Rich Gosling
2
England Laurence Shahlaei 2
England Adam Bishop 2

Clash of the Giants

In 2011, an event was organised in Boroughbridge advertised to allow spectators to see "top British strongmen compete to take a step closer towards a place at World's Strongest Man". The event was organised by multiple World's Strongest Man entrant Darren Sadler and the top two places, won by Rob Frampton and Jack McIntosh, received invitations to North Carolina to compete at the 32nd World's Strongest Man. Clash of the Giants was designed to fill the void left by the absence of the Britain's Strongest Man competition last held in 2008, much as the 1988 John Smith's Trial of Strength had been created following the discontinuation of the BSM in 1984. Unlike the BSM, which is the final stage of a knockout competition comprising a number of regional and national rounds, the Clash of the Giants was a singular event. Because there was no regional tiered competition preceding, it there was no prerequisite that the Clash of the Giants have a field of athletes representing each area of Britain and notably all the athletes competing were English. In addition, the three most successful British strength athletes actively competing at the time, namely Hollands, Felix and Shahlaei, had qualified for the WSM via international grand prix events and did not compete.

See also

References

External links