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Strength Athletics
Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully competed in strongman competitions. However, strongman events also test physical endurance to a degree not found in powerlifting or other strength-based sports, such as carrying refrigerators, flipping truck tires, and pulling vehicles with a rope. Competitions designed to test the strength of participants pre-date recorded history. The Highland games in Scotland are an early example of modern strongman competitions. Circus strongmen also performed feats of strength that were non-traditional or sensationalistic. Strongman competitions like World's Strongest Man began their television popularity in the 1970s. History Origins Strength competitions pre-date written history. The first Olympics (running, throwing, jumping) were believed to ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Thomas Topham
Thomas Topham (c. 1710 – 10 August 1749), of London, was a famous strongman of the 18th century. Life Topham was the son of a carpenter who apprenticed him to his own trade. In early life he was landlord of the Red Lion Inn, near old St. Luke's Hospital, and, though he failed there in business, soon gained profit and notoriety by his feats of strength. His first public exhibition consisted in pulling against a horse while lying on his back with his feet against the dwarf wall that divided Upper and Lower Moorfields. On 10 July 1734, a concert at Stationers' Hall, given for his benefit, was diversified by his herculean performances, and the woodcut on an extant programme (Burney Coll., Brit. Mus.) shows the strong man lying extended between two chairs, with a glass of wine in his right hand, and five gentlemen standing on his body. About this time, or later, he became landlord of the Duke's Head, a public-house in Cadd's Row (afterwards St. Alban's Place), near Islington Green.Wa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Donald Dinnie
Donald Dinnie (10 July 1837 – 2 April 1916) was a Scottish strongman, born at Balnacraig, Birse, near Aboyne, Aberdeenshire. Sometimes regarded as "The Nineteenth Century's greatest athlete", Dinnie's athletic career spanned over 50 years, and over 11,000 successful competitions. Early life The son of stonemason Robert Dinnie, born on 10 July 1837, he was one of eight sons, and had two sisters. Also known for being a poet, author and historian, Robert and his wife were married in 1836. Dinnie won his first sporting event, at the age of 16, in the nearby village of Kincardine O'Neil. He defeated the local wrestling strongman David Forbes, and took first place, winning £1 prize money. Sporting career Dinnie became an all-round athlete, growing and building his skills over a 21-year reign as Scottish champion (1856–1876). He excelled in sprint, hurdles, long and high jump, pole vault, putting the stone, hammer throw, tossing the caber a ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Dinnie Stones
The Dinnie Stones (also called Stanes or Steens) are a pair of Scottish lifting stones located in Potarch, Aberdeenshire. They were made famous by strongman Donald Dinnie, who reportedly carried the stones barehanded across the width of the Potarch Bridge, a distance of , in 1860. They remain in use as lifting stones. The stones are composed of granite, with iron rings affixed. They have a combined weight of , with the larger stone weighing and the smaller stone weighing . The stones were reportedly selected in the 1830s as counterweights for use in maintaining the Potarch Bridge. They were lost following World War I, but were rediscovered in 1953 by David P. Webster. Replicas of the Dinnie Stones (pioneered by Gordon Dinnie) have been used in international competition. World Records The ultimate challenge is to replicate the 1860 performance of Donald Dinnie, by walking the original stones (heavier stone to be gripped from the front and the lighter stone from the back) ove ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Star Wars
''Star Wars'' is an American epic space opera multimedia franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the eponymous 1977 film and quickly became a worldwide pop-culture phenomenon. The franchise has been expanded into various films and other media, including television series, video games, novels, comic books, theme park attractions, and themed areas, comprising an all-encompassing fictional universe. ''Star Wars'' is one of the highest-grossing media franchises of all time. The original film (''Star Wars''), retroactively subtitled '' Episode IV: A New Hope'' (1977), was followed by the sequels '' Episode V: The Empire Strikes Back'' (1980) and '' Episode VI: Return of the Jedi'' (1983), forming the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy. Lucas later returned to the series to direct a prequel trilogy, consisting of '' Episode I: The Phantom Menace'' (1999), '' Episode II: Attack of the Clones'' (2002), and '' Episode III: Revenge of the Sith'' (2005). In 2012, Lu ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a fictional character in the ''Star Wars'' franchise. The character is the central antagonist of the original trilogy and, as Anakin Skywalker, is one of the main protagonists in the prequel trilogy. ''Star Wars'' creator George Lucas has collectively referred to the first six episodic films of the franchise as "the tragedy of Darth Vader". He has become one of the most iconic villains in popular culture, and has been listed among the greatest villains and fictional characters ever. His masked face is one of the most iconic character designs of all time. Originally a slave on Tatooine, Anakin Skywalker is a Jedi prophesied to bring balance to the Force. He is lured to the dark side of the Force by Chancellor Sheev Palpatine / Darth Sidious and becomes a Sith Lord, assuming the title of Darth Vader. After a lightsaber battle with his former mentor Obi-Wan Kenobi on Mustafar, in which he is severely injured, Vader is transformed into a cyborg. He then serves the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
David Prowse
David Charles Prowse (1 July 1935 – 28 November 2020) was an English actor, bodybuilder and weightlifter. He portrayed Darth Vader (voiced by American actor James Earl Jones) in the original ''Star Wars'' trilogy and a manservant in Stanley Kubrick's 1971 film ''A Clockwork Orange''. In 2015, he starred in two documentaries concerning his Darth Vader role, one entitled ''The Force's Mouth'' which included Prowse voicing Darth Vader's lines with studio effects applied for the first time, and the other entitled '' I Am Your Father'' covering the subject of fallout between Prowse and Lucasfilm. Prior to his role as Vader, Prowse had established himself as a super-hero figure in the United Kingdom as the ''Green Cross Man'' in the Green Cross Code road safety public information aimed at children and young people. Early life David Charles Prowse was born on 1 July 1935 in Bristol. He is the son of Gladys (''née'' Burt) and Charles Prowse. He was brought up on the Southmead hou ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympics
The modern Olympic Games or Olympics (french: link=no, Jeux olympiques) are the leading international sporting events featuring summer and winter sports competitions in which thousands of athletes from around the world participate in a variety of competitions. The Olympic Games are considered the world's foremost sports competition with more than 200 teams, representing sovereign states and territories, participating. The Olympic Games are normally held every four years, and since 1994, have alternated between the Summer and Winter Olympics every two years during the four-year period. Their creation was inspired by the ancient Olympic Games (), held in Olympia, Greece from the 8th century BC to the 4th century AD. Baron Pierre de Coubertin founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in 1894, leading to the first modern Games in Athens in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement (which encompasses all entities and individuals involved in the Olym ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Olympic Weightlifting
Olympic weightlifting, or Olympic-style weightlifting (officially named Weightlifting), is a sport in which athletes compete in lifting a barbell loaded with weight plates from the ground to overhead, with each athlete trying to successfully lift the heaviest weights. Athletes compete in two specific ways of lifting the barbell overhead: these are the snatch and the clean and jerk. The ''snatch'' is a wide-grip lift, in which the weighted barbell is lifted overhead in one motion. The ''clean and jerk'' is a combination lift, in which the weight is first taken from the ground to the front of the shoulders (the clean), and then from the shoulders to overhead (the jerk). The clean and press, wherein a clean was followed by an overhead press, was formerly also a competition lift, but was discontinued due to difficulties in judging proper form. Each weightlifter gets three attempts at both the snatch and the clean and jerk, with the snatch attempts being done first. An athlete's s ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Alexander Zass
Alexander Ivanovich Zass (6 March 1888 – 26 September 1962) was a Russian strongman, professional wrestler, and animal trainer. He was better known by his stage names, The Amazing Samson, Iron Samson, or simply Samson, Zass has been credited as the "first Russian champion in weightlifting in the pre-Revolutionary era". Biography Zass was born on 6 March 1888 in Vilnius, then part of the Russian Empire. While a young man, Zass' strength training included "bending green branches". During First World War, Zass served in the Russian army, fighting against the Austrians. He was taken as a prisoner of war four times, but managed to escape each time. As a prisoner, he pushed and pulled his cell bars as part of strength training, which was cited as an example of the effectiveness of isometrics. At least one of his escapes involved him 'breaking chains and bending bars'. He went on to promote the use of isometric exercises. Following the war, Zass joined a circus to perform feats of st ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Angus MacAskill
Angus MacAskill (1825 – 8 August 1863) was a Scottish-born Canadian giant. In its 1981 edition the ''Guinness Book of World Records'' stated he was the strongest man who ever lived, the tallest non- pathological giant in recorded history, the largest true giant to ever have lived at , and had the largest chest measurements of any non-obese man at . He was said to have completed feats such as lifting a ship's anchor that weighed to his chest and could hold over with only three fingers. Early life MacAskill was born on the Isle of Berneray in the Sound of Harris, Scotland. His father was Norman MacAskill, who was tall, and his mother was Christina Campbell. He had twelve siblings, several of whom died young, and he was an ordinary-sized baby."Cape Breton's Giant: Angus McAskill" Macaskill.com. Retrieved ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Arthur Saxon
Arthur Saxon (April 28, 1878 – August 6, 1921), born Arthur Hennig and nicknamed "The Iron-Master", was a German strongman and circus performer from the late 19th century into the early 20th century. Saxon is best known for the bent press, a lift in which he was far superior to any other strongman, setting a world record of 168 kg (370 lb) which remains unbroken to this day. He also lifted 175 kg (385 lb) informally in a gym, as well as making a "two hands anyhow" lift of 203 kg (448 lb). Career Arno Patschke, known as Arno Saxon on stage, a performer and former Greco-Roman wrestler from Germany was eager to make money performing strongman acts. He traveled to Leipzig, where he convinced Oscard Hilgenfeldt and Arthur Hennig to join him in creating the "Greatest Strong Show" in the country. Eventually Arthur's two brothers, Kurt and Hermann joined the group as well, forming the "Saxon Trio," and in 1897, the Trio began performing for a circus in E ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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