Bruce Wilhelm
{{Short description|American strongman (born 1945)}}
{{Infobox sportsperson
| name = Bruce Wilhelm
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| occupation = Strongman, Olympic weightlifting, Shot put
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1945|7|13}}
| birth_place = {{flagicon|USA}} Sunnyvale, California
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| height = {{height|ft=6|in=2}}
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{{MedalSport | Men's Weightlifting}}
{{MedalCompetition|Pan American Games}}
{{MedalSilver| Mexico City 1975|+ 110 kg}}
{{CompetitionRecordSport | Strongman}}
{{CompetitionRecordCountry | {{USA}} }}
{{CompetitionRecordCompetition|World's Strongest Man}}
{{CompetitionRecordFirst | 1977 World's Strongest Man | }}
{{CompetitionRecordFirst | 1978 World's Strongest Man | }}
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Bruce Wilhelm (born July 13, 1945) is a former weightlifter and strongman from the United States. He is a two-time winner of the World's Strongest Man competition in 1977 and 1978 and the author of numerous strength-related articles and books. He was a member of the executive board of the United States Olympic Committee. He was also on the Athletes Advisory Council for 8 years as well as the Substance and Drug Abuse Committee, the Sports Medicine Committee, and the Games Preparation Committee.
Athletics
Wilhelm was a high school track and field star for Fremont High School (Sunnyvale, California), and was the 1963 CIF California State Meet shot put champion as well as runner up in the discus competition.{{cite web |url=http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm |title=California State Meet Results - 1915 to present |publisher=Hank Lawson |date= |accessdate=2012-12-25 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006092406/http://www.prepcaltrack.com/ATHLETICS/TRACK/stateres.htm |archive-date=2014-10-06 |url-status=dead }} He won the Golden West Invitational high school shot put. He continued his athletic development at Stanford University, competing in shot, discus and wrestling. He was the 1965 AAWU Wrestling Champion{{Cite web|title=Conference Champions|url=https://gostanford.com/news/2016/7/15/wrestling-conference-champions.aspx|access-date=2021-03-21|website=Stanford University Athletics|language=en}} and finished the season undefeated with 21 victories. He finished 4th in the 1966 AAU National Freestyle Wrestling and Greco Roman Championships (unlimited weight class).
After one year at Stanford, Wilhelm transferred to Oklahoma State University, where, in addition to competing in the shot put, he was also a member of the varsity wrestling team.
He placed in the top 10 US Men's Shot rankings for 1967 (9th), 1969 (5th), 1970 (3rd), 1971 (4th), 1972 (8th), and 1973 (3rd).{{cite web | url=https://trackandfieldnews.com/mens-u-s-shot-put-rankings-by-athlete/ | title=Men's U.S. Shot Put Rankings by Athlete }} Wilhelm is still is #251 on the all-time world shot put records, with a mark of 20.12m (66'-1/4") set on July 8, 1972, during the Olympic trials.
=Weightlifting=
Wilhelm became a weightlifter, and was the US National AAU Super Heavyweight Weightlifting Champion for both 1975 and 1976. He won a silver medal for the United States at the 1975 Pan-American Games in Mexico City in the +110 kg division,http://www.hickoksports.com/history/panamweight.shtml {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050328085105/http://www.hickoksports.com/history/panamweight.shtml# |date=2005-03-28 }} Hickoksports and placed 5th at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal, QC, Canada.
=World's Strongest Man=
Wilhelm won the inaugural World's Strongest Man competition in 1977, and returned to win again in 1978.http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/planet28.htm bodybuilding He then spent several years helping to organize and officiate further contests.
References
{{Reflist}}
{{World's Strongest Man champions}}
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Category:American male weightlifters
Category:Olympic weightlifters for the United States
Category:American strength athletes
Category:Weightlifters at the 1976 Summer Olympics
Category:Strength training writers
Category:Sportspeople from Sunnyvale, California
Category:Track and field athletes from California
Category:Weightlifters at the 1975 Pan American Games
Category:Medalists at the 1975 Pan American Games
Category:Pan American Games silver medalists for the United States in weightlifting