The World’s Strongest Man competition has been running since 1977, and since then there have been some truly memorable feats of strength. However, one man stands out as the greatest champion of all time – that man is Mariusz Pudzianowski.
Mariusz is a Polish strongman who has won an incredible five titles during his professional career. In 2002, he won his first title – the only time a person has ever won the tournament on their first attempt. He then went on to win four consecutive titles from 2003-2005.
Mariusz’s wins came in part due to his incredibly broad physical attributes; he was unusually short for a strongman competitor at 5 ft 11, but made up for it with huge amounts of upper body strength, explosive power and remarkable endurance. His ability to combine these strengths allowed him to dominate various events such as lifts, pick-ups holds and heavy carries which normally require both muscle power and stamina.
In addition to these more traditional strongman activities, Mariusz also proved himself to be superbly agile relative to the other competitors. His lap time during the “Squat Walk” event was consistently among the fastest of all participants, while he dominated the “Conan Wheel” event where competitors race around a track carrying a large wheel loaded with weights above their heads.
Mariusz’s final World’s Strongest Man win came in 2008 after an extended period away from competitions due to injury and personal commitments. Since his retirement, no other competitor has managed to match or exceed his record of five titles – making him undoubtedly the greatest World’s Strongest Man champion ever seen.
