Skúli Margeir Óskarsson (3 September 1948 – 9 June 2024) was an Icelandic

powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive 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 singl ...

and

weightlifter Weightlifting or weight lifting generally refers to physical exercises and sports in which people lift weights, often in the form of dumbbells, barbells or machines. People engage in weightlifting for a variety of different reasons. These can ...

, who became the first Icelander to

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 ...

300 kg and 700 lb. He was a pioneer of

strength athletics Strength athletics is the collection of strength sports which measure physical strength, based on both: non-standard and historical implements as seen in Strongman and Highland games, and standardized and calibrated equipment as seen in Powerlifti ...

in Iceland and was the first Icelander to break a world record in any strength sport. Skúli grew up in

Fáskrúðsfjörður Fáskrúðsfjörður (; previously named also Búðir ) is a village (''þorp'') in eastern Iceland. It has a population of 735 (as of 2024) and constitutes one of the villages composing the municipality of Fjarðabyggð. Geography Fáskrúðsf ...

as a fisherman and started Olympic weightlifting as a hobby in the late 1960s. Then he switched to powerlifting. He competed in his first tournament in 1970. Within a few years he broke multiple Icelandic records and won Silver in lightweight (under 75 kg) category at the 1978 IPF World Championships in

Turku Turku ( ; ; , ) is a city in Finland and the regional capital of Southwest Finland. It is located on the southwestern coast of the country at the mouth of the Aura River (Finland), River Aura. The population of Turku is approximately , while t ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

by totaling in single ply equipment. For that performance, he was elected the

Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year The Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year () is an annual award given to the best Icelandic sportsperson of the year. The winner is selected by the Icelandic Association of Sports Journalists. It was first given in 1956 to the triple jumper Vilhjálm ...

in 1978. He also won Bronze in the same weight class in 1975 and 1981 World Championships held in

Birmingham Birmingham ( ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in the metropolitan county of West Midlands (county), West Midlands, within the wider West Midlands (region), West Midlands region, in England. It is the Lis ...

and

Calcutta Kolkata, also known as Calcutta (List of renamed places in India#West Bengal, its official name until 2001), is the capital and largest city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of West Bengal. It lies on the eastern ba ...

respectively. Skuli was famous for his lively celebrations during powerlifting tournaments. In 1980, he broke the Raw Deadlift world record in the under 75 kg weight class with and for the 2nd time got elected as the Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year in 1980. In his career, Skúli won a silver medal and two bronze medals in World championships, three gold medals in Nordic championships and multiple gold medals in National championships. In 2016 he was awarded the KRAFT gold medal by Icelandic Powerlifting Federation and on 28 December 2017 was inducted into the

ÍSÍ Hall of Fame The ÍSÍ Hall of Fame is the hall of fame of the National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland The National Olympic and Sports Association of Iceland (, ÍSÍ) is the National Olympic Committee representing Iceland, and the highest authorit ...

. Skúli died on 9 June 2024 from heart failure at the Landspitali University Hospital, aged 75.

Personal Records

''Single-ply'' * Squat – ''with wraps'' (1981 EPF Men's European Powerlifting Championships, Italy) *

Bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

– (1982 KRAFT Sjónvarpsmót í kraftlyftingum, Iceland) *

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 ...

– (1982 KRAFT Íslandsmeistaramót í kraftlyftingum, Iceland) * Total – (1982 KRAFT Sjónvarpsmót í kraftlyftingum, Iceland) ''Raw'' * Squat – ''with wraps'' (1976 NPF Men's Nordic Championships, Norway) *

– (1975 KRAFT Íslandsmeistaramót í kraftlyftingum, Iceland) *

– (1980 KRAFT Laugardalshöll Championships, Iceland) ''(Former World Record)'' * Total – (1976 NPF Men's Nordic Championships, Norway)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Óskarsson, Skúli 1948 births 2024 deaths Skúli Óskarsson Skúli Óskarsson