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Jón Páll Sigmarsson (April 28, 1960 – January 16, 1993) was a strongman, a powerlifter , a bodybuilder and a weightlifter from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times (1984, 1986, 1988, 1990). In 1984 Sigmarsson won the Icelandic bodybuilding title in the +90 kg. class. His achievements in powerlifting also include Icelandic records in the bench press and the squat, but his best performances were usually in the deadlift event, in which he set the European record many times and multiple world records in strongman competition deadlift variations, such as the rectangular handled wheel and one handed deadlift.
A famous quote from him is "there is no point in being alive if you cannot do the deadlift". In a tragic irony, he died at the age of 32 while performing this exercise in the gym. He knew he had serious heart problems in his family and was aware of this weakness. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest strength athletes of his time.
Once in a Strongman competition, someone in the audience called him an eskimo, then he shouted back: "I am not an Eskimo, I am a Viking!" Two other famous quotes are, "I am in seventh heaven" which was his translation of an Icelandic saying, and "Ekkert mál fyrir Jón Pál" which roughly translates as "It is no haul for Jon Paul".
[edit] Strongman contest history
[edit] World's Strongest Man
- 1983 - 2nd
- 1984 - 1st
- 1985 - 2nd
- 1986 - 1st
- 1988 - 1st
- 1989 - 3rd
- 1990 - 1st
[edit] World Muscle Power Championship
- 1985 - 1st
- 1986 - 1st
- 1987 - 1st
- 1988 - 3rd
- 1989 - 1st
- 1990 - 1st
- 1991 - 1st
- 1992 - 1st
[edit] Europe's Strongest Man
- 1983 - 3rd
- 1985 - 1st
- 1986 - 1st
- 1987 - 3rd
- 1988 - 2nd
- 1989 - 3rd
- 1990 - 4th
- 1992 - 4th
[edit] Other contests
- 1980 European Powerlifting Championships - 2nd
- 1981 European Powerlifting Championships - 2nd
- 1981 World Powerlifting Championships - 3rd
- 1982 Scandinavian Strongest Man - 1st
- 1983 European Powerlifting Championships - 1st
- 1985 Le Defi Mark Ten (Canada) - 3rd
- 1986 Le Defi Mark Ten (Canada) - 2nd
- 1986 Carmunnock Highland Games (Scotland) - 7th
- 1986 Commonwealth Highland Games (Scotland) - 1st
- 1987 Le Defi Mark Ten (Canada) - 5th
- 1987 Ultimate Challenge Competition - 1st
- 1987 Japan Grand Prix - 2nd
- 1987 Pure Strength - 1st
- 1989 Corby Great Eccleston (England) - 1st
- 1989 Iceland's Kraftur Contest - 1st
- 1989 Scottish Power Challenge - 1st
- 1990 Nissan Power Cup - 1st
- 1990 European Muscle Power Championship
- 1991 European Hercules - 2nd
- 1992 European Hercules - 6th
- Iceland's Strongest Man winner - 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992
- Finland's Strongest Man winner - 1989, 1992
Jon Pall Sigmarsson died on the 16th January 1993 of a heart attack. He was working out in his gym in Iceland when he suffered the heart attack, caused, it is thought, by a torn aorta which was related to a weakened heart, a problem that was known to exist in his family.
[edit] Trivia
[edit] External links
