Commander Grant Edwards is a high-ranking

Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal Au ...

law enforcement officer A law enforcement officer (LEO), or peace officer in North American English, is a Public sector, public-sector employee whose duties primarily involve the Law enforcement, enforcement of laws. The phrase can include campaign disclosure specialist ...

and former elite athlete and

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. These ...

competitor and entrant to the

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 Decembe ...

competition.

Biography

Grant Edwards competed on the international circuit prior to his initial 1997 triumph in

Australia's Strongest Man Australia's Strongest Man is an annual strongman contest consisting of exclusively Australian strength athletes. The event was established in 1993. The first inaugural winner was Bill Lyndon, who preceded a number of different Australian strength ...

. He was well known for displays of strength and in the greatest feats of strength section of the 2001 edition of

Guinness Book of Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

, Grant Edwards was picked out for special mention for his feat of single-handedly pulling a 201-ton steam locomotive a distance of 36.8 metres along a railroad track at

Thirlmere Thirlmere is a reservoir in the Allerdale, Borough of Allerdale in Cumbria and the English Lake District National Park, Lake District. The Helvellyn ridge lies to the east of Thirlmere. To the west of Thirlmere are a number of fells; for inst ...

NSW ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, Australia, on 4 April 1996. The 1999 win in Australia's Strongest Man led to an invitation to the prestigious

in 1999. Drawn in the same group as

Magnus Samuelsson Magnus Samuelsson (born December 21, 1969), is a Swedish actor, former strongman and winner of the 1998 World's Strongest Man contest in Morocco. He has also made it to the World's Strongest Man podium 5 times and the finals 10 times and is rega ...

, Edwards was directly matched up against the Swede in the log lift, losing 10 lifts to 2. Magnus won the group and Edwards failed to progress to the final. Edwards also pulled the 386 Tall Ship 'Bounty' in Sydney Harbour a distance of 25 metres on 3 April 1996. as well as a 220-ton steam locomotive for charity in Canberra in 1997. Other feats of strength include pulling C130 Military Aircraft at Richmond NSW for charity live on the former Channel 9 Midday Show with Kerri-Anne. Over the course of his strongman career, Edwards exhibited his feats of strength on programs such as the ''Footy Show'', ''Hey Hey it's Saturday'' and the ''Bert Newton Show''. He regularly appeared on Nine's ''Wide World of Sports'', Channel Seven's ''Sportsworld'' and ESPN. Edwards was also a Highland Games competitor. One of his notable achievements was winning the Scottish heavy throws contest at the 1997

Rosneath Rosneath (''Ros Neimhidh'' in Gaelic) is a village in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. It sits on the western shore of the Gare Loch, northwest of the tip of the Rosneath Peninsula. It is about by road from the village of Kilcreggan, which is sited ...

and

Clynder Clynder is a place on the western shore of the Gare Loch, Argyll and Bute, Scotland. Historically in the County of Dunbarton, Clynder is one of a string of small settlements on the Rosneath Peninsula. It is almost directly opposite Rhu, and overl ...

Highland Games. He totalled 30 points to defeat Robert McKee (US) and Ivo Degelling (Netherlands) who finished second equal with 27 points. Prior to competing in strength events Edwards represented Australia in Track and Field in the shot put and hammer throw at Seoul Junior Open South Korea 1982 gaining a bronze medal. He would later be selected in the Australian University Team for Track and Field in 1996 in the same events. Edwards has recently returned to track and field at the Masters level and currently holds a number of Australian Master records in Field events. In 1991 Edwards would change tack and became a member of the Australian Bobsleigh Team competing in the World Cup circuit throughout Europe and North America and as a member of the 1992 and 1994 Australian Winter Olympic Squad. He was also one of the original Australians to secure an American Football scholarship at the University of Hawaii in 1982. Outside of his strongman and sporting career, Edwards pursued a career within the Australian police. He joined the

Australian Federal Police The Australian Federal Police (AFP) is the national and principal federal law enforcement agency of the Australian Government with the unique role of investigating crime and protecting the national security of the Commonwealth of Australia. Th ...

(AFP) in 1985 and worked in Sydney, Newcastle, Canberra and Los Angeles covering such areas as family law, international drug trafficking and people smuggling.Centre for International Governance & Justice (CIGJ) Lectures and Seminars 2010
/ref> He established the AFP's Transnational Sexual Exploitation and Trafficking Team in 2003, which addresses crimes of transnational sexual exploitation and travelling child sex offenders. From here he took the position of Chair of the Interpol Expert working Group on trafficking in Women and Children, becoming an international expert in this field. He went on to work as the National Surveillance Coordinator, Coordinator of Transnational Crime Intelligence and in 2006 gained promotion to Commander, in his capacity as Manager Criminal Intelligence Collection. In January 2008, Commander Edwards was posted to

East Timor East Timor (), also known as Timor-Leste (), officially the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste, is an island country in Southeast Asia. It comprises the eastern half of the island of Timor, the exclave of Oecusse on the island's north-weste ...

(Timor-Leste) as Security Advisor to the Secretary of State for Security within the Government of East Timor. His work within this role was praised by the

Minister for Home Affairs An interior minister (sometimes called a minister of internal affairs or minister of home affairs) is a cabinet official position that is responsible for internal affairs, such as public security, civil registration and identification, emergency ...

, Brendan O'Connor, who echoed and endorsed comments made by the East Timor Prime Minister

Xanana Gusmão José Alexandre "Xanana" Gusmão (; born 20 June 1946) is an East Timorese politician. A former rebel, he was the third President of the independent East Timor, serving from 2002 to 2007. He then became its fourth prime minister, serving from ...

. O'Connor said "Praise from the Prime Minister of Timor-Leste His Excellency Kay Rala Xanana Gusmão today, is testament to Commander Edwards' professionalism and the dedication that he has brought to the role. His efforts have gone a long way to strengthening relationships between Australia and Timor-Leste".

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Edwards, Grant Living people Australian strength athletes Australian police officers Australian Federal Police Australian powerlifters Year of birth missing (living people)