Bill Kazmaier
| Bill Kazmaier | |
|---|---|
Bill Kazmaier, Green Bay Packers Training Camp in 1981.
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|
| Born |
William Kazmaier December 30, 1953 Burlington, Wisconsin, United States |
| Residence | Auburn, Alabama, United States |
| Nationality |
 American
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| Other names | Kaz |
| Occupation | Strongman, powerlifting, professional wrestling, sports commentator |
| Years active | 1978-1992 |
| Height | 188 cm (6 ft 2 in) |
| Weight | 160 kg (350 lb) |
| Children | 1 |
| Competition record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Strongman | ||
| Representing United States
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| World's Strongest Man | ||
| 3rd | 1979 World's Strongest Man | |
| 1st | 1980 World's Strongest Man | |
| 1st | 1981 World's Strongest Man | |
| 1st | 1982 World's Strongest Man | |
| 2nd | 1988 World's Strongest Man | |
| 4th | 1989 World's Strongest Man | |
| World Muscle Power Championships | ||
| 3rd | 1985 | |
| 1st | 1988 | |
| 4th | 1989 | |
| 4th | 1990 | |
| 6th | 1992 | |
| World Strongman Challenge | ||
| 3rd | 1988 | |
| 2nd | 1990 | |
| Pure Strength | ||
| 2nd | 1987 | |
| 1st | 1988 w/Stuart Thompson | |
| 2nd | 1989 w/O.D. Wilson | |
| 1st | 1990 w/O.D. Wilson | |
| Scottish Power Challenge | ||
| 1st | 1984 | |
| 1st | 1985 | |
| 1st | 1986 | |
| 1st | 1987 | |
| 1st | 1988 | |
| 1st | 1989 | |
| Strongbow Strongman | ||
| 1st | 1980 | |
| 1st | 1981 | |
| Le Defi Mark Ten Challenge | ||
| 1st | 1987 | |
| 2nd | 1990 | |
| Powerlifting | ||
| Representing United States
|
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| IPF World Powerlifting Championships | ||
| 1st | 1979 | +110kg |
| 1st | 1983 | +125kg |
| USPF National Powerlifting Championships | ||
| 1st | 1983 | +125kg |
| AAU National Powerlifting Championships | ||
| 1st | 1978 | 125kg |
William Kazmaier (born December 30, 1953) is an American former world champion powerlifter, world champion strongman and professional wrestler. During the 1970s and 1980s, he set numerous powerlifting and strongman world records, and won two International Powerlifting Federation (IPF) World Championships and three World's Strongest Man titles. In the 1980s, Kazmaier became famous for his claim to be "the strongest man who ever lived" by equaling and surpassing spectacular and versatile feats of strength of famous strongmen of the 20th century. He is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest competitors in strength competitions.
Kazmaier is of German ancestry. A star athlete in high school, Kazmaier played football for two years at the University of Wisconsin–Madison before dropping out in 1974 to concentrate on lifting weights at the Madison YMCA. There he learned the fundamentals of powerlifting. Kazmaier then struggled to earn a living as an oil rigger, a bouncer, and a lumberjack.
At the 1978 Amateur Athletic Union (AAU) National Championships in Los Angeles, California, Kazmaier squatted 782 lbs, bench pressed 534 lbs, and deadlifted 804 lbs in the 275-pound weight class, which immediately placed him in the top rank in his first national powerlifting appearance. In 1979 at age 25, he set a world record with a bench press of 622 lbs on the way to winning his first IPF World Powerlifting Championship in Dayton, Ohio. His winning lifts included an 865 lbs squat, the 622 lbs bench press and an 804 lbs deadlift for a 2292 lbs total. He repeated the success in 1983 by first winning the United States Powerlifting Federation (USPF) National Powerlifting Championships in July and later the IPF World Championship in November for a second time. He won this IPF World Championship despite two major injuries. He had a severe pectoral injury, from which he never recovered completely, and shortly before the IPF Championships, had torn his hip flexors in the squat.
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