Aivars Šmaukstelis (born 20 September 1987) is a Latvian

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

. Having competed in 61 International strongman competitions, he has won 21 of them, making him the sixth most decorated strongman in history behind Žydrūnas Savickas,

Mariusz Pudzianowski Mariusz Zbigniew Pudzianowski (; born 7 February 1977), also known as "Pudzian" and "Dominator", is a Polish entrepreneur, mixed martial artist and former strongman competitor. With 43 international victories at a record 70% winning percenta ...

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English, born 26 November 1988), is an Icelandic professional strongman, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person ...

Brian Shaw Brian Keith Shaw (born March 22, 1966) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He could play both guard positions, but wa ...

and Krzysztof Radzikowski.

Career

Šmaukstelis began his career at the age of 16 as a

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

. After training for a couple of years, he achieved a personal best of 800 kg (1,764 lb) total (equipped/ multi ply category) at the age of 18. Following advice from his coach, he tried strongman and progressively excelled, winning Latvia's Strongest Man and entering the

Strongman Champions League The Strongman Champions League is a strongman competition circuit, with several Grand Prix events throughout the year and the Strongman Champions League overall champion title going to the overall winner at the end of the season. The competit ...

hailing from its IFSA roots. It gave Šmaukstelis the opportunity for international exposure, competing against the best strongmen in the world. Having competed prolifically in the Strongman Champions League since 2014 throughout many Grand Prix competitions in Latvia,

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Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the ...

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Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

Romania Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central, Eastern, and Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Moldova to the east, and ...

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and

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, Šmaukstelis won 12 international titles, 9 silver and 4 bronze medals. His other international titles include World Strongman Championships, Marijampolė International, Pasaulio Taurė and Savickas Classic. He is also a

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 Decem ...

8th-place winner (2020), two time World's Ultimate Strongman bronze medalist (2020 & 2021),

Europe's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for m ...

bronze medalist (2023) and Giants Live strongman classic silver medalist (2022). Šmaukstelis is a well rounded strongman with several strong events. With 12 career stone event wins out of 22, he is the sixth greatest stone lifter in history. Together with a noteworthy

grip strength Grip strength is the force applied by the hand to pull on or suspend from objects and is a specific part of hand strength. Optimum-sized objects permit the hand to wrap around a cylindrical shape with a diameter from one to three inches. Stair rai ...

, he is also noted for his prowess in distance and endurance based events. He also holds the Guinness World Record for the fastest 10 x kegs keg toss (18–25 kg) over a 15-foot bar in 21.02 seconds.

Personal records

*Hummer tyre

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

''(from 15" height)'' - *Axle

''(from 10" height)'' - x 4 reps * Squat - x 10 reps *Log press - *Log press (for reps) - x 9 reps *Viking press - x 15 reps *Circus Dumbbell press - *Circus Dumbbell press (for reps) - x 10 reps * Atlas Stones - 5 Stones weighing 110–180 kg (242–397 lb) in 17.10 secs *Natural stone lift to platform – 5 Rocks ranging from 160 to 210 kilograms (353–463 lb) in 28.94 seconds * Keg toss – 10 kegs (18–25 kg (40–55 lb)) over 4.57 metres (15 ft 0 in) in 21.02 seconds (World Record) *Super Yoke – (25 meter course) in 10.75 seconds *Basque circle (Conan's wheel) - 300 kg (661 lb) for 860° rotation *Power Stairs (200 kg (441 lb), 225 kg (496 lb) & 250 kg (551 lb) Duck walks / total of 15 steps) - 41.67 seconds

References

External links

Aivars Šmaukstelis
on Instagram {{DEFAULTSORT:Šmaukstelis, Aivars 1987 births Living people Latvian strength athletes