Beat the Hulk? What a feat!
QUESTION Who was the first World’s Strongest Man? How did his feats of strength compare with recent winners?
The first World’s Strongest Man competition was held at Universal Studios in California in 1977.
It was the brainchild of two Scotsmen, highland Games organiser David P. Webster and Dr Douglas edmunds, a shot put and discus thrower and winner of the Braemar Games Championship and Scottish Gaelic Association World Championship titles in the caber toss.
It was designed to be a ‘friendly display of strength by invited athletes from several sports’. The contestants were picked in part for entertainment value. None had trained for the events, and this led to serious injuries.
The competitors were: Bruce Wilhelm, a shot-putter and Olympic weightlifter; Bob Young, American football player for St Louis Cardinals; Ken Patera, wrestler and Olympic weightlifter; Lou Ferrigno, Mr America and twice Mr Universe, known for his TV role as the Incredible hulk; Jon Cole, an Olympic weightlifter and a powerlifter with a 900 lb squat; Mike Dayton, Kung Fu master and a Mr America; George Frenn, an Olympic hammer thrower; and the only non-American, Franco Columbu, an Italian bodybuilder, Mr Universe and twice Mr Olympia.
Several events from the first show are still used: the car deadlift, barrel lift, tram pull, tyre toss and the good old-fashioned tug of war.
The fridge race was downright dangerous. It involved the competitors having 410 lb fridges strapped to their backs and racing to the finishing line.
Franco Columbu slipped and fell, dislocating his knee, forcing him to retire from the competition and putting him out of action for three years.
Despite this, the fridge race was reintroduced to the competition in 2004, with a crossbar added to stabilise two fridges on either side of the athlete.
Two other events were also scrapped: the wrist roll, hoisting 100 lb up a 10 ft rope; and the bar bend, using any means necessary to twist a steel rod in half. The bars became increasingly thicker, and using the neck and mouth was a legitimate, but dangerous, tactic.
No Seventies competition could be complete without a sexist event. This came in the form of the girl squat lift: competitors would squat with a bar holding a female in a cage at each end.
Bruce Wilhelm was the winner of the show. he was not awarded the $20,000 purse until the end of his amateur career, lest his status be revoked.
The event was a huge success and later competitions featured popular performers, such as three-time winner Bill Kazmaier, a powerlifter; British Olympian Geoff Capes; and the charismatic Icelandic powerlifter Jon Pall Sigmarsson.
The relative strengths of competitors are hard to compare because the event is so much more professional today.
As a reference, Bruce Wilhelm’s lifetime best deadlift was 750 lb (340 kg), Jon Pall Sigmarsson’s was 942 lb (427 kg) and the 2017 champion eddie ‘The Beast’ hall has deadlifted a staggering 1,102 lb (500 kg) — half a tonne.
Jared Marsh, Ipswich, Suffolk.
QUESTION Why are South African gold Krugerrands a different colour from British sovereigns?
SHORTLY after the Second Boer War (1899-1902), the Union of South Africa became the world’s largest gold-producing country.
In 1964, with the backing of the South African Government, a legal tender gold bullion coin was created to help the country to market these gold resources.
Krugerrand is a compound of Kruger ( after Paul Kruger, the four times President of the South African republic between 1883 and 1900) and rand, the South African unit of currency.
The coin was first produced in the South African Mint on July 3, 1967, and enabled the public to become private owners of gold bullion.
Pure gold is too soft for circulation, so the Krugerrand was minted in a coppergold alloy, which explains its reddish colour. It is 91.67 per cent pure gold (22 ct) and 8.33 per cent copper, and was the first gold coin that contained exactly one troy ounce of fine (24 ct) gold.
By 1980, the Krugerrand accounted for 90 per cent of the global market. More than 50 million ounces have been sold.
The British gold sovereign was first minted from the Great recoinage of 1816. It was a descendent of the old english gold sovereign, which was last minted in about 1603.
It is 91.66 per cent gold (22 ct) and is alloyed with a mixture of copper (around 4 per cent) and silver (4 per cent), creating a more yellow colour.
Katie Forrester, Chesterfield, Derbys.
QUESTION Did John Paul Getty Jnr adopt an abandoned dog, which he renamed Bull’s-eye after the bull terrier owned by Bill Sikes in Oliver Twist?
FURTHER to the earlier answer, Sir John Paul Getty II was born eugene Paul Getty. Obliged to leave his home in Italy after the death of his second wife, Talitha Pol, from a drug overdose, he settled in London, 25 miles from the Surrey home of his father, J. Paul Getty.
The ‘J’ of his father’s name stood for Jean, not, as sometimes misquoted, John. eugene Paul changed his name several times, eventually electing by deed poll to be known as Sir Paul Getty.
J. Paul Getty senior also rescued unwanted dogs. he adopted more than 18 Alsatians who had failed their final trials at the police dog training college.
Deeply upset to learn these dogs would be put down, as they were unsuitable for re-homing due to their training, he immediately offered to give a home to any rejects. Some became guard dogs, others just enjoyed the good life.
Robina Lund, Aberdeen.
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