Strongmen can lift incredible amounts of weight and perform feats that are beyond our comprehension.
Geoff Capes, a strongman who rose to fame in the 1970s for his athletic accomplishments, is one of these men.
Geoff Capes, a strongman, who?
In Holbeach, Lincolnshire, Geoffrey Lewis Capes was born on August 23, 1949. He has two younger full siblings and six older half-siblings. He is the seventh child out of nine.
He was coached by Stuart Storey at the neighborhood athletic club where he grew up in Holbeach.
He was a gifted athlete who competed for Lincolnshire in basketball, football, and cross-country. He was also a competent sprinter who ran 200 meters in 23.7 seconds.
During his childhood, Capes was also enthralled by the natural world and took care of sick and injured birds and animals.
After leaving school, he worked as a coal miner and an agricultural laborer. He was able to load an impressive 20 tons of potatoes in just 20 minutes.
In 1970, he enlisted in the police department, where he served for ten years.
When did Geoff Capes become the strongest man in the world?
In 1983, Geoff won the title of Strongest Man in the World after taking first place in the event in Christchurch, New Zealand. After finishing in third place the year before in Cascais, Portugal, he won it back in 1985.
He has placed in the top three of SIX World’s Strongest Man competitions overall:
- 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
For his incredible hand and arm strength, Capes was well-known. He was able to bend rolled steel bars longer than three feet and with a diameter of more than an inch, as well as easily rip London dictionaries in half.
Geoff Capes represented Great Britain in what Olympic event?
Geoff, a shot put specialist, competed for England and Great Britain in field athletics. He spent eleven years representing his nation.
He won two titles for the Indoor European Championship and two for the Commonwealth Games.
He placed fourth in his first significant competition, the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh.
He won gold at the following two competitions in 1974 and 1978. In 1974 and 1976, he twice won the title of European Indoor Champion, taking home silver in 1975, 1977, and 1979 and bronze in 1978.
At the 1974 Outdoor European Athletics Championships, he won a bronze medal. Despite having a glitzy career, he failed to win a medal for himself at the Olympics.
His first Olympic competition was in Munich in 1972, but he was unsuccessful in the qualifying round.
He was one of the favorites to win the gold medal at the 1976 Summer Olympics in Montreal, though, four years later.
He finished second in his qualifying group but only sixth overall. He threw 21.68 meters in Cwmbran, Wales, in 1980 for the longest distance of his career. It set new records for the British and the Commonwealth.
He had new records going into the 1980 Moscow Olympics, making him the gold medal favorite.
He finished fifth, but Capes acknowledged that he was “numbed with disappointment” about his performance.
The most capped male athlete in British history is Capes. Without counting the additional 35 caps for England, he has 67 international caps with 35 victories.
He has won 17 national championships overall, including the AAA title seven times.
Additionally, he has won the UK title three times. In 1983, he received the award for best field athlete in Britain.
His British record from 1980 is still valid. Carl Myerscough threw farther in 2003, but the length wasn’t recognized.
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