The 1980 World's Strongest Man was the fourth edition of

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...

and was won by

Bill Kazmaier William Kazmaier (born December 30, 1953) is an American former world champion powerlifter, world champion strongman and professional wrestler. During his illustrious career, he set over 40 powe ...

from the United States. It was his first title after finishing third the previous year.

Lars Hedlund Lars Hedlund (January 24, 1949 – June 4, 2016), was a former strongman and powerlifter from Sweden. Strongman Lars competed in three World's Strongest Man contests, finishing second at the 1979 and 1980 World's Strongest Man, and third in 1978 ...

from Sweden finished second after finishing second the previous year, and

Geoff Capes Geoffrey Lewis Capes JP (23 August 1949 – 23 October 2024) was a British shot putter, strongman, and Highland Games competitor. He was famous in the UK in the 1980s for his sporting prowess and appearances on television in shows such as '' ...

from the United Kingdom finished third. Defending champion

Don Reinhoudt Donald C. Reinhoudt (March 5, 1945 – July 3, 2023) was an American powerlifter and strongman. He won the IPF World Powerlifting Superheavyweight Championship four consecutive times (1973–1976), and won the World's Strongest Man in 1979. Wi ...

was forced to retire from the competition due to injury in his final World's Strongest Man. The contest was held in the United States for the fourth consecutive year, at the Vernon Valley/Great Gorge Resort in

Vernon, New Jersey Vernon Township is a township in Sussex County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is located about a one hour drive from New York City and is part of the New York metropolitan area. As of the 2020 United States census, the township's popula ...

Events

There were a total of 10 different events used in the competition: * Overhead Log lift (wooden log) – Winner Bill Kazmaier & Lars Hedlund 346lbs * Weight toss (56lbs weight over bar throw) – Winner Bishop Dolegiewicz 17 feet * Truck pull (16200lbs truck pull over 100foot course in heats) – Winner Cleve Dean * Engine race (800lbs over 150feet uphill course) – Winner Bill Kazmaier in 14:40sec * Steel bar bend – Winner Bill Kazmaier (only one that finished bending the two ends 5inch together) * Fridge Carry (420lbs fridge over 100foot uphill course) – Winner Geoff Capes in 10:72sec * Girl Lift ( Squat on a

smith machine The Smith machine is a weight machine used for weight training. It consists of a barbell that is fixed within steel rails allowing for only strict vertical movement. Some Smith machines have the barbell counterbalanced. The machine can be used for ...

with Playboy Girls on top) – Winner Bill Kazmaier 934lbs * Silver Dollar

Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

(18" off the floor with straps allowed) Winner Bill Kazmaier 956lbs * Battery hold – Winner Jerry Hannan * tug of war (between the four best competitors) – Winner Bill Kazmaier

Final results

The American

dominated the competition by winning 6 events, getting two second places, one third and one fourth place: He tied for first in the Log lift, together with

. He won the engine race, the steel bar bend, the Girl Squat lift, the Silver Dollar Deadlift and the final tug of war. He came in second in the weight toss and the fridge Carry. He took third in the battery hold and got fourth in the truck pull.

References

External links

Official site
{{World's Strongest Man champions World's Strongest World's Strongest Man