Pure Strength
{{Infobox sport tournament
|name = Pure Strength
|image =
|location = Various
|establishment = 1987
|format = Multi-event competition
|purse =
|final_year= 1990
|final_champion = {{flagicon|USA}}
Bill Kazmaier
O.D. Wilson
}}
Pure Strength was a vintage Strongman competition held from 1987 to 1990 in Scotland and England which was created by Tjalling van den Bosch.{{Cite web |url=http://www.ironcurtainlabs.net/champs/profile-tjalling.html |title=Champ Tjalling van den Bosch - Profile |access-date=2010-05-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081118194034/http://www.ironcurtainlabs.net/champs/profile-tjalling.html |archive-date=2008-11-18 |url-status=dead }}
Event History
The first year of the event was known as "Pure Strength Challenge" and it was a single man competition featuring only Bill Kazmaier, Geoff Capes and Jón Páll Sigmarsson. The event was held at Huntly Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Jón Páll won 8 out of 10 events to become the 1987 champion. Some strength historians and analysts regard it as the replacement for World's Strongest Man in that year.
In 1988, the event became a 2-man team competition held at Allington Castle in Allington, Kent England. The teams were from the United States, Great Britain, the Netherlands and Australia. Team USA would eventually win in 1988, with team members Bill Kazmaier and Stuart Thompson. In 1989, Team Iceland claimed victory with team members Hjalti Árnason and Magnús Ver Magnússon. Kazmaier would win again in 1990 for Team USA along with teammate O.D. Wilson.[http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/strongmanresults.html David Horne's World of Grip]
Event Placings
| class="wikitable sortable" style="display: inline-table;width: 100%;"
!Year !Champion !Runner-Up !3rd Place !Location | ||||
| Pure Strength 1987 | {{flagicon|ISL}} Jón Páll Sigmarsson | {{flagicon|USA}} Bill Kazmaier | {{flagicon|GRB}} Geoff Capes | {{flagicon|SCO}} {{small|Huntly Castle Aberdeenshire, Scotland}} |
| Pure Strength II 1988 | {{flagicon|USA}} Bill Kazmaier Stuart Thompson | {{flagicon|GBR}} Jamie Reeves Mark Higgins | {{flagicon|NED}} Ab Wolders Tjalling van den Bosch | {{flagicon|ENG}} {{small|Allington Castle Kent, England}} |
| Pure Strength III 1989 | {{flagicon|ISL}} Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon | {{flagicon|USA}} Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson | {{flagicon|GBR}} Jamie Reeves Mark Higgins | {{flagicon|SCO}} {{small|Stirling Castle Stirling, Scotland}} |
| Pure Strength IV 1990 | {{flagicon|USA}} Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson | {{flagicon|ISL}} Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon | {{flagicon|NED}} Tjalling van den Bosch Ted van der Parre | {{flagicon|ENG}} {{small|England}} |
Venues
File:Huntly Castle.jpg|Huntly Castle was the location for Pure Strength '87
File:AllingtonFeb.JPG|Allington Castle was the location for Pure Strength II in 1988
File:Stirlingcastle.jpg|Stirling Castle was the setting for Pure Strength III in 1989