Worlds Strongest Man - 2021

[Matt]

Kids a beast (tom), glad for him. Autistic like Matt.
And Matt's buddy Maxime came in 3rd, great job Max and Tom...
Shaw still trying for that number 5 to tie with Pudz...

Wait, what?  Where is Maxime standing right now??

Shoot - this big fellar lives just around the corner from me.  I've known him since 2012, when he was a 20-year-old kid deadlifting 675-lb.  I worry a little about Max.  I have some reasons I can get into for that, but I think they are too personal to share here - but in a nutshell, Max REALLY goes all in.

If anyone were to die in a strongman contest, I could see it being Max.  He really knows how to push himself to places that I personally cannot.  And I don't consider myself lazy in the gym by any means - I've seen my share of stars while maxing out...but Maxime is just balls to the wall.

And strongman is an unforgiving sport.  Max will be 30 later this year [September], and so he still has some time.  He has brought up his deadlift to the world level where he can now get points, and his overhead/pressing power is out of this world.

I just want the best for my friends.  I love strongman - both watching it, and competing in it at the local/lightweight level [big props to the CAASA organization starting in 2015, giving me a weight class], but I just think strongman is one of the most brutal sports on the competitors.

It doesn't come with head trauma - but it does come with massive systemic stress on the body due to the demand to weigh so much, push your body to the max in training, and...that which is often verboten...the chemicals.

But Max loves it - and it seems to me he may well be World's Strongest Man one day.  Ha - I would have never thought Thunder Bay's Strongest Man would be World's Strongest Man, but it's looking like that may be possible some time this decade if Max stays injury-free. 

Nice to Tom represent the autistics!    I don't care for this "Everyone's a victim" culture [including Rob Kearney wearing rainbow tights], but I don't think Tom has been too outspoken about...

I was only diagnosed with autism in 2016, although I had it all my life.  It helps people to understand why my posts are books.    So I do feel it is important to talk about it - as long as it doesn't become part of the Oppression Olympics, I'm ok with some awareness spreading.

[Body-Buildah]

Max finished in 3rd, so a Podium finish for him is huge.

I like your book-long posts Matt, full of useful info. Most of it I happen to agree with.

[Gregzs]

[ThisisOverload]

Glad to see he won!

Well deserved.

[Matt]

Max finished in 3rd, so a Podium finish for him is huge.

I like your book-long posts Matt, full of useful info. Most of it I happen to agree with.

Thanks, Body-Buildah!

I'm trying to be more concise, even if my posts are long.  Some of my goals are [1] don't post NEW threads, unless they are of some significance [for example, I would love to post a new thread congratulating Maxime, as it is so cool to me that Thunder Bay's Strongest Man is now the world's third strongest man!], [2] try to post useful and relevant information, including some specific data not generally posted, or otherwise time-consuming to research and find, and [3] if I can make short posts of the same quality, make an effort to do so.

I also want to be respectful to people here, including the ones I disagree with.  In the case of the C19 global disaster, I take it pretty personally because it's a massive issue, and has been economically devastating more than it has been medically devastating.  And I can't help but be a little annoyed with the people who are pushing the C19 agenda forward, including the way that fear has been used to coerce people into going along with it all. 

Hopefully things are normal where you are - because they definitely are not normal here, due to our staggering 64 deaths, 57 of whom were over 80. 

One thing I ask myself is - am I turning members away from the board, or deterring potential new users from joining?  Ultimately, it is Ron's board, and at the very least, I want to be a net neutral or better in terms of the popularity and success of his board.

I would hate to think that my posts are turning people away.

Given the massive censorship of Big Tech of late, I would think there would be a resurgence of members to private website message boards...but no.  I haven't really noticed that.  That's a shame, given how many people the Big Tech platforms have captured, and given how incredibly censorious they have been since the start of the C19 bollocks.

My doctor got censored on Facebook, and received a warning for posting a video of the Chinese female whistleblower who originally leaked the information about C19 being a lab leak.  YouTube banned this video of the PCR test creator explaining how it is not intended to test for viruses, as well as this video from Dr. Roger Hodkinson, a doctor with 45 years of experience, reporting to Edmonton City Council about the ridiculous government overreach of C19 measures.  To me, that is inexcusable.

^ And that's how my autism gets me off-topic.

I just want to make posts that don't take long for people to scroll past if they want to ignore them.    If they are so long that it takes several seconds just to SKIP OVER THEM...that's a problem.

I love that you have an interest in strongman, Body-Buildah!

As I said, I worry about these guys pushing themselves to the limit and beyond...and I can honestly say that it's been easier for me to watch strongman contests since not training hard myself [only getting back to the gym this month, after only going for walks previously during the lockdowns].  As the memory of pushing myself to my own subjective maximum [obviously much lower than the pros] is fading, it's been easier for me to the pro contests.

For example, I heard that Bobby Thompson passed out while pressing the 215-kg [474-lb] log!    That's kind of freaky - and could even be fatal if a log that heavy fell on a person - even a man as big and strong as Bobby.  Maybe that's why he opted out of the stones.

Thanks for covering this contest for Getbig, Body-Buildah!  And thanks for this LOL:

Kearney has dropped out as an alternate, got some TV show deal (probably a gay thing) so he wont be doing WSM either. (If he was called upon).

LOL!!!!  Oh man...

You're probably right about that, LOL.  I guess advertising his gayness nonstop paid off.

PS - WTH happened with Oleksii Novikov?    From 24-year-old winner last year, to not even making the finals this year?  Seems like he traded status with my pal Maxime.    I'm so proud of that big fellar.  I have a picture with him when he won the Thunder Bay Classic in 2017, and I placed 4th in the manlet division.    I hate 4th place finishes. 

[Matt]

^ Oh brother...I didn't think that post was half that long.  My photographic memory SUCKS.  Hence I didn't realize [yet again] that I posted another book, probably half of which is about COVE screwing things up where I am, rather than this year's World's Strongest Man contest.

Sorry, all.  I'm really trying to get a handle on my post lengths. 

Glad to see he won!

Well deserved.

World's Strongest Autistic!

I can sort of see why Rob Kearney calls himself "World's Strongest Gay", it's just...maybe just say it once or twice and drop it?

I feel like I need to remind people that I am autistic because it explains my weird tendencies.  But where exactly in North America does anyone care who is gay or not? 

Even Louisiana, for all the grotesque stereotypes and hatred of the Deep South in the USA by the very people who claim to be against that, has had an LGBT rights agency called "The Forum for Equality" since 1989.

Exactly what "rights" do LGBT people not have?    And before anyone brings up marriage equality, I can tell you as an absolute fact that Canada's family courts, which were blatantly discriminatory towards men until around 2007-2009, is THE reason why I didn't get married.  I was 100% systemically discriminated against being able to marry.  How is blatantly screwing men over in divorce by government decree any different than homosexuals not legally being allowed to marry?  The result, in practical terms, is the same.

...

Anyway, I'm thrilled to see that Tom Stoltman has become the World's Strongest Autistic, and that Maxime Boudreault has represented Thunder Bay with a podium finish in his first finals!

I considered Jean-Francois Caron to be at a higher level that Maxime [based on previous results], but despite being Canada's Strongest Man a record NINE TIMES [what would be 11 this year, if not for C19 contest cancellations], JF only has one podium finish - interestingly, that is now the same as Maxime, on only his second attempt! 

Also, Maxime made 3rd at the young age of 29, with many good years ahead of him, whereas it took JF until age 38 to make 3rd last year, presumably towards the end of his strongman career [JF will be turning 39 next Tuesday, whereas Max will only be 30 in September].

Regardless - two amazing French Canadian strongmen rounded out the top five!  I can't wait to see Max soon, to ask him all about it. 

[Body-Buildah]

I considered Jean-Francois Caron to be at a higher level that Maxime [based on previous results], but despite being Canada's Strongest Man a record NINE TIMES [what would be 11 this year, if not for C19 contest cancellations], JF only has one podium finish - interestingly, that is now the same as Maxime, on only his second attempt!

Caron tore his hamstring earlier on, but decided to keep on competing, though, not able to push himself 100%.