Jesse Marunde (6'5", 300 lb, September 14, 1979 - July 25, 2007) was an American Professional Strongman athlete from Sequim, Washington. Jesse is noted for his major influence in bringing the sport of Strongman more mainstream exposure after placing second to Mariusz Pudzianowski at the 2005 Worlds Strongest Man competition.[1]
Born in Glennallen, Alaska simply because that was the nearest hospital (125 miles away), Jesse was raised after birth in Tok, Alaska and then at age 8 Jesse moved to Bristol Bay, Alaska where he spent 10 summers commercial fishing.
[edit] Strength Sports
Jesse was a high-school athlete, playing several sports, including Wrestling, Football, and Track. He received an athletic scholarship to Montana State University, to play football and he also started Olympic lifting.[2] At age 18 he officially closed the No. 3 Captains of Crush Gripper, a hand gripper with 280 lb (127 kg) of resistance, being the youngest person in history to ever achieve certified "Captain of Crush" status.[3]
In 2002, at age 22, Marunde was the youngest American ever to qualify for the World's Strongest Man.[4] His second-place finish in 2005 made him the first American to place in the top two competitors since O.D. Wilson finished second in 1990, behind Jón Páll Sigmarsson.
On July 25, 2007 Marunde died following a workout in Sequim, Washington.[5] The cause of his death was a genetic heart defect, hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, a leading cause of sudden cardiac death in young athletes.[6]
Jesse Marunde was filming his workout at the time he died.
