STRONGMEN have the ability to lift unbelievable weights, and perform feats which we only can dream about.
Geoff Capes is one of the strongest men in history. He became famous for his athletic achievements during the Seventies.
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Geoff Capes is a strongman.
Geoffrey Lewis Capes, born August 23, 1949 in Holbeach (Lincolnshire), was a British actor.
Six older siblings are half-siblings, and there are two more younger siblings.
Stuart Storey coached him at the Holbeach Athletic Club.
His sporting talents were impressive. He represented Lincolnshire at basketball, cross-country and football, as well as being a good sprinter, with a time of 23.7 seconds in the 200 metre race.
Capes, who was fascinated by the natural world as a child and cared for injured birds, animals and other creatures.
After leaving school, he worked as an agricultural worker and a coalman. He was able load twenty tons of potatoes within twenty minutes.
In 1970 he joined the police and stayed there for 10 years.
When did Geoff Capes become the World’s Strongest Man?
Geoff won the World’s Strongest Man competition in Christchurch in 1983.
After a disappointing finish in third place the year before, he regained his title in Cascais in Portugal in 1985.
He has SIX times finished in the top 3 of World’s Strongest Man:
- Third – 1980 Playboy Club, Vernon, New Jersey
- Second – 1981 Playboy Club, Vernon, New Jersey
- First – 1983 Christchurch, New Zealand
- Third – 1984 Mora, Sweden
- First – 1985 Cascais, Portugal
- Second – 1986 Nice, France
Capes is known for having incredible arm and hand strength.
It was easy for him to tear London dictionaries into half. He also bent rolled steel bar measuring more than one inch and three feet.
Geoff Capes was a Great Britain Olympian in which event?
Geoff competed in Shot Put, a sport in which he specialized.
The 11-year old represented his country.
The two Indoor European Championships titles and the two Commonwealth Games medals were his.
In 1970, he competed in the Commonwealth Games at Edinburgh and finished fourth.
He won gold at the two next games, in 1978 and 1974.
In 1974, he won the European Indoor Championship twice. He also took silver in 1977, 1979 and 1978, as well as bronze in 1978.
In 1974, he won a bronze medal at the European Athletics Championships held outdoors.
He failed to bring home a gold medal at the Olympics, despite a glittering career.
In 1972, he was the first Olympian to compete in Munich. He did not qualify for the final round.
He was, however, one of his favourites to win the gold at the 1976 Montreal Olympics.
The final was a surprise. He placed only sixth, despite being second in his qualifying group.
In 1980, he reached the longest distance in his career when he threw 21,68 meters in Cwmbran in Wales.
This was a record for the Commonwealth of Nations and Britain.
In 1980, he was the favourite to win gold at the Moscow Olympics.
Capes, however, admitted to being “dejected” by his performance.
Capes has the record for being Britain’s most-capped male athlete.
The 67 caps he’s received for international play have resulted in 35 wins. This does not count the additional 35 caps he won with England.
Seven times he has been the AAA champion.
Three times he has also won the UK championship.
In 1983, he was named Britain’s greatest ever field athlete.
The 1980 British record is still standing.
Carl Myerscough was the first to throw further in 2003 but this distance has not been ratified.