The World's Strongest Man (& other strongman competitions)

[Tom K]

Hi Tom,
i have been watching the show and i must say i am overall very disappointed with it. First of all i will say what i do like about it,and that is the 4 strongmen taking part and traveling the world. Brian Shaw, Eddie Hall, Nick Best and Robert Oberst are 4 of the world's strongest men, good friends and supportive of each other, their Banter and camaraderie are what keep the show going. Now what could have been done. The History channel consulted HOPC for information forthe series, this gave them the opportunity to get the actual facts right and deliver some accuracy to the show,after all it the HISTORY channel so you would expect them to seek authentic historical facts.It became apparent to David and Diane that their motives were not so pure and dialogue ceased. Anyway the show is a mix of reality TV, entertainment and myth and legend. There are so many inaccuracies i have stopped counting.If you take it as a fun show with some great strongman stunts it is OK.The problem is the majority of people watching it will believe everything presented as historical fact is true,this makes a mockery of those who are trying to promote history accurately.At least HOPC is not in the credits as that would damage our credibility for sure. I will continue watching it because i like the guys but will continue to cringe at the blatant disregard for facts.
Regards,Peter.

Could you please give some examples of the inaccuracies please? I saw there were some annoyed people at the York plate pinch grip challenge. Only 7 had done it and plenty of others said that was not true.

[peter yates]

Hi Tom, i am on a trip right now but when i get back i will mention the ones i can remember that stood out.
Regards,Peter.

[peter yates]

Hi Tom, these are a few comments from what i have seen so far.My recommendation to anyone who would be interested in the facts would be to search the library for information on the strongmen featured in the show. I guess the first glaring mistake was when the inscription on the stone tablet was read aloud by Robert. This inscription still has the claim that Paul back lifted 6,270lb and it is recorded in the Guinness book of records. Well it has been proven without doubt that there is nowhere any proof that this feat ever took place,and if it in fact did the weight would have been much less. Joe Roark did much painstaking research into this lift and his findings should be read. Just Google Joe Roark and Paul Anderson back lift. Unfortunately many who should know better became angry at Joe for challenging their idol.The claim was removed from the GBoR many years ago.So for accuracy they should have mentioned this or omitted all reference to it altogether.Next they chose to do the silver dollar squat,but the truth is no one actually knows how much was in the containers, but certainly not the 1,200 0r so that was advertised.The bar and containers used in the show were not exactly the same as used at Mapes in Vegas, so the feat was not a true duplication. Better, in my opinion, would have had them Squatting the amount that Paul was known to have really accomplished. Next we have the clean and press portion. Paul was known to have done just over 400lb officially. Even now that is a tremendous feat. For any of the guys to have done that would have been extremely creditable.Unfortunately none of then cleaned the weight as Paul had done. So once again a better option would have been just what they did and try to better Paul's push press from the racks which was recorded as considerably more than his clean and press. The other shows have similar glaring inconsistencies which a little research will quickly show. Now as i said before it would be OK if this was not being portrayed as history, but i wonder why they would not take the trouble to be accurate as it would still have been interesting and fun with the guys. My feeling is they just could not be bothered to get it right and were too tight to pay a real historian as consultant.I had mentioned they had approached David,who by the way did an lot of work preparing,and then they decided not to use that information. I must mention that apart from that i am enjoying the series because of the four great guys involved, whom i am sure are not aware that what is being presented is not accurate.I am also a big fan of Paul Anderson and appreciate his real feats of strength which were in fact many,however i am also not blind to the fact that some of his later claims as a professional cannot be substantiated.Hope this helps Tom.
Regards,Peter.