Pure Strength was a strongman competition held from 1987 to 1990 which was created by

Tjalling van den Bosch Tjalling van den Bosch (born 28 June 1958 in Achlum) or "Charlie" as he was often called, is a former competitive Dutch people, Dutch powerlifter, Strongman (strength athlete), strongman, and Highland Games athlete. He competed only once in World' ...

Event History

The first year of the event was known as "Pure Strength Challenge" and it was a single man competition featuring only Bill Kazmaier, Geoff Capes and Jón Páll Sigmarsson. The event was held at Huntly Castle in

Aberdeenshire Aberdeenshire ( sco, Aiberdeenshire; gd, Siorrachd Obar Dheathain) is one of the 32 Subdivisions of Scotland#council areas of Scotland, council areas of Scotland. It takes its name from the County of Aberdeen which has substantially differe ...

Scotland Scotland (, ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a border with England to the southeast and is otherwise surrounded by the Atlantic Ocean to the ...

. Jón Páll won 8 out of 10 events to become the 1987 champion. In 1988, the event became a 2-man team competition held at

Allington Castle Allington Castle is a stone castle in Allington, Kent, just north of Maidstone, in England. The first castle on the site was an unauthorised fortification, built during "The Anarchy" (1135–1153) and torn down later in the century when royal con ...

in Allington, Kent

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The teams were from the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the northwest coast of continental Europe. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the largest European island and the ninth-largest island in the world. It is ...

, the

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 ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

. Team USA would eventually win in 1988, with team members Bill Kazmaier and Stuart Thompson. In 1989, Team

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

claimed victory with team members

Hjalti Árnason Hjalti Árnason (born 18 February 1963), nicknamed Hjalti Úrsus, is an Icelandic former strongman competitor and world champion powerlifter. Hjalti was known by the nickname "The Great Ursus". He first began in ...

and

Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Ver Magnússon (born 23 April 1963) is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of ...

. Kazmaier would win again in 1990 for Team USA along with teammate O.D. Wilson.David Horne's World of Grip
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Event Placings

{, class="wikitable" !Year !Champion !Runner-Up !3rd Place !Location , - , Pure Strength '87, , Jón Páll Sigmarsson , , Bill Kazmaier , , Geoff Capes , , , - , Pure Strength II 1988, ,
Bill Kazmaier
Stuart Thompson , ,
Jamie Reeves
Mark Higgins , ,

Ab Wolders Ab Wolders (born 10 June 1951) is a former strongman and world champion Powerlifter from the Netherlands. He was runner-up at the World's Strongest Man competition on two occasions, placing second to Jón Páll Si ...

, , , - , Pure Strength III 1989, ,

, ,
Bill Kazmaier
O.D. Wilson , ,
Jamie Reeves
Mark Higgins , , , - , Pure Strength IV 1990 , ,
Bill Kazmaier
O.D. Wilson , ,

, ,

Ted van der Parre Ted van der Parre (born 21 September 1955) is a former strongman from the Netherlands, who won the World's Strongest Man contest in 1992 and was 4th in 1991. He also participated in 1994 when he finished 8th, having to drop out after the second ev ...

, , {{small,

, - *All results courtesy of David Horne's World of Grip http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/strongmanresults.html

Venues

File:Huntly Castle.jpg, Huntly Castle was the location for Pure Strength '87 File:AllingtonFeb.JPG,

was the location for Pure Strength II in 1988 File:Stirlingcastle.jpg,

Stirling Castle Stirling Castle, located in Stirling, is one of the largest and most important castles in Scotland, both historically and architecturally. The castle sits atop Castle Hill, an intrusive crag, which forms part of the Stirling Sill geological ...

was the setting for Pure Strength III in 1989

References

Strongmen competitions