Jón Páll Sigmarsson

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.

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.

He used to shout, "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".

Strongman contest history

World's Strongest Man

*1983 - 2nd
*1984 - 1st
*1985 - 2nd
*1986 - 1st
*1988 - 1st
*1989 - 3rd
*1990 - 1st

World Muscle Power Championship

*1985 - 1st
*1986 - 1st
*1987 - 1st
*1988 - 3rd
*1989 - 1st
*1990 - 1st
*1991 - 1st

Europe's Strongest Man

*1983 - 3rd
*1985 - 1st
*1986 - 1st
*1987 - 3rd
*1988 - 2nd
*1989 - 3rd
*1990 - 4th
*1992 - 4th

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

Death

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.

Trivia

*Jón Páll was namechecked in Iceland's entry to the Eurovision Song Contest 1988, "Sókrates" by Sverrir Stormsker.
*Jón Páll's larger than life personality is the inspiration for a running gag in the "1985 World's Strongest Man" episode of the sports-comedy show Cheap Seats.
*In 1987, a contest called Pure Strength was held at the Huntley Castle in Aberdeenshire Scotland. In this event, Sigmarsson, Bill Kazmaier and Geoff Capes competed to define the strongest man of all time, where Sigmarsson won 8 out of 10 events.
*Jón Páll was considered a shoe-in for the 1980 Icelandic presidential elections but due to other commitments, he decided not to run.

External links

* [http://www.jonpall.is/ Official website]
* [http://home.earthlink.net/~jonpallsigmarsson/ Tribute page]