Geoff Capes
Encyclopedia
Geoffrey Lewis Capes (born 23 August 1949) is a former athlete, strongman
and professional Highland Games
competitor. As an athlete he represented both England
and Great Britain
in field athletics, specialising in the shot put
an event in which he was twice Commonwealth champion
, twice European champion, and three time Olympian. As a strongman, he twice won the title of World's Strongest Man
, was World Muscle Power champion on two occasions, and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man
and Britain's Strongest Man
As a Highland Games competitor he was six times world champion
, first winning the title in Lagos
in 1981 and held world records in numerous events. Following retirement from competitive sport he continued to be involved in strength athletics as a referee, event promoter and coach. He also ran a sportswear retail shop and became renowned as a world-class breeder of birds. Capes stood 6 foot and weighed 23 stones (146.1 kg) at his peak condition.
, Lincolnshire
, the seventh of nine children. He was the seventh child of Eileen Capes, though the eldest of her three children by her third husband Bill Capes. Of his older siblings, the elder two were Braithwaites and the middle four Cannons. He grew up in the town and went to the local secondary school, George Farmer. He became a member of Holbeach Athletic Club where he was coached by Stuart Storey
. He was a gifted sportsman, and represented Lincolnshire
at basketball
, football and cross-country
. In addition he was a decent sprinter, running 23.7sec for the 200m. Growing up on the Lincolnshire fens he had an early fascination with the natural world and cared for injured birds and animals from when he was a young boy. After school he worked as a coalman and an agricultural labourer, being able to load twenty tons of potato
es in twenty minutes. He joined Cambridgeshire Constabulary
in 1970, and remained in the police for ten years.
and two Indoor European Championship titles. His first major games were the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh
, where he finished fourth. In the next two games in 1974 and 1978
he took the gold medal. In this period he also became the European Indoor Champion in both 1974 and 1976. His first Olympic experience was in 1972 when he competed in Munich
. The 21-year-old Capes did not make it past the qualifying round, but improved on this considerably four years later. Having thrown his personal best on 28 May 1976 at Gateshead of 21.55m. Capes went into the 1976 Montreal Olympics
as one of the favourites for the gold medal. He came second in his qualifying group but went on to come sixth overall in the final, the winner being Udo Beyer
of East Germany. 1980 was the year that saw Capes putt the best distance of his career and increased the British record to 21.68m (71 ft. 3.5 in.) in Cwmbran
on 18 May 1980 being a new Commonwealth and British record. He went into the Olympics as the athlete with the best distance of the year so far and was once again a favourite for the title. However, he eventually placed fifth, the winner being Vladimir Kiselyov
who although putting an Olympic Record of 21.35m was well short of Capes' distance prior to the Olympics. Capes said of his performance at the 1980 Moscow Olympics that the result that left him "numbed with disappointment".
Geoff Capes is the most capped British male
athlete of all time, receiving 67 International caps, and returning 35 wins, not including a further 35 caps for England. He is a winner of 17 national titles including being 7 times a winner of the AAA championship and three times UK champion, In 1983 he was voted Britain's best ever field athlete and his 1980 British shot-putt record stood until 2003, when Carl Myerscough
took the mantle.
having won the inaugural Britain's Strongest Man
in 1979. In that competition he beat Bill Anderson, the World Highland Games champion into second place. Bill went on to the 1979 World's Strongest Man
, the first Briton to compete in this tournament, whilst Capes concentrated on his athletic career. In 1980 the Olympics dominated the year and Capes did not compete in Britain's Strongest Man, but he did compete later in the Europe's Strongest Man
competition and won that. This ensured his invitation to the 1980 World's Strongest Man
and on his first entry he came third behind the by then more experienced Bill Kazmaier
and Lars Hedlund
. In 1981 he returned and improved to second place, again behind Kazmaier, and in 1982 he came fourth. The 1983 contest was the first held outside the United States and in Christchurch
, New Zealand
he held off the challenge of a world class field including the young Jon Pall Sigmarsson
and to take the first of two World's Strongest Man titles. The Christchurch hosted tournament also had the Canadian world powerlifting champion, Tom Magee
, and the European powerlifting champion, Siem Wulfse, competing. But it was the duel between Sigmarsson and Capes that heralded the beginning of a great rivalry. The following year in Mora
, Sweden, Sigmarsson, eleven years Capes' junior, took the title proclaiming "The King has lost his crown!". Capes retorted "I'll be back" and the following year won the title in Cascais
, his closing remark being "The King has not lost his crown". Sigmarsson won once again in 1986 with Capes coming second.
Aside from the World's Strongest Man, Capes also won Europe's Strongest Man
on three occasions, in London (1980), Amsterdam (1982) and Marken (1984). He regained his Britain's Strongest Man title in 1981 and again in 1983. He won the World Muscle Power championship in 1987, and has been ascribed two World Muscle Power championships by the creator of the event, David Webster, although other sources suggest the 1987 victory was the only one. In 1987 his win in the World Muscle Power was accompanied by a win in the World Strongman Challenge
and he is one of only three athletes to have won all three titles. There was no World's Strongest Man that year, but an event was held designed specifically to pit the three most successful strongmen against one another. Called the Pure Strength
, the Ultimate Challenge, it featured Bill Kazmaier
, Jon Pall Sigmarsson
and Geoff Capes. The event was held at Huntly Castle
and Capes entered despite having been in hospital the previous weekend with strained trapeziums. Strong performances in the first few rounds belied his condition but he eventually pulled out during the log-lift and ended the contest in third place. Capes, the oldest of the three, was close to strongman retirement at this stage and the next year, the World Muscle Power where he finished second, proved to be his last major outing as a strongman.
In terms of a legacy in strength athletics Capes stands shoulder to shoulder with the very best. A multiple winner of the World's Strongest Man, along with many podium finishes in that competition, is an achievement magnified by the fact that this was done whilst competing with two other men who have both been hailed as the greatest of all time, namely Sigmarsson and Kazmaier. In addition, he won every major tournament of the era and was hugely successful in other sporting endeavours, still hailed as one of the greatest Highland Games competitors of all time. As a strongman he was not from the typical background of weightlifting, powerlifting or bodybuilding yet rose to the very top of the field through his sheer natural strength. In the 'Strength Athlete' magazine issues of the late 1980s and early 1990s there were interviews with a number of leading strongmen of the era. A consistent pairing of questions was asked to each man, being "who is the 'strongest' Strongman of all time?" and "who is the 'best' Strongman of all time?". Of the fifty-three respondents, only one named Capes as the strongest, but nineteen named him as the best. This was the highest number of votes, with the second highest number of nominations in this category being twelve to Jon Pall Sigmarsson. Although it is true to say that a number of his votes came from British based athletes, (notably former World's Strongest Man Jamie Reeves
being among that number) he also was named as best strongman of all time by Magnus Ver Magnusson
, Jon Pall Sigmarsson
and Ted Van Der Parre
. Capes himself named Bill Kazmaier
as the strongest, Jon Pall Sigmarsson
as the best.
. He competed at many gatherings in Scotland and across the world and became a hugely popular and respected figure. He won the World Heavy Events title in Lagos
in 1981, in a year when there were two world championships, the second won in Melbourne by Bill Anderson. He went on to win again in 1983 in Carmunnock
and the next four consecutive titles, making him the most successful competitor ever in terms of titles. He set world records in many disciplines, including the 56 lb weight over the bar and brick lifting. As a Highland competitor he was dubbed Geoff Dubh Laidir, translated as Black Strong Geoff.
later took fifth sport at the World's Strongest Man
under the combined coaching of Capes and Bill Pittuck
. Capes also helped promote the Daily Star funded UK Strongest Man tournaments until the turn of the millennium.
. Prior to his athletic retirement he had been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
in 1977, for services to the community. He went on to run a sportswear retail shop in Holbeach
, before moving to Spalding
where in 1998 he became a Justice of the Peace
. At the height of his fame in 1985, the game Geoff Capes Strongman was released on the Amstrad CPC
, the ZX Spectrum
and the Commodore 64
, featuring a truck pulling and tug-of-war, allowing control of each muscle group. His profile also led to numerous appearances on British television, one such example being in the Tyne Tees Television
programme Supergran
in the episode "Supergran Grounded". A persistent story about Capes is that in 1979, he stood in for friend and fellow strongman David Prowse
to play the part of Darth Vader
in several scenes during filming of The Empire Strikes Back while Prowse recovered from an elbow injury. During an interview on BBC Radio Cleveland
on 31 January 2007, Capes was asked about this and he stated that it never happened. Another story, told on Youtube
by former wrestler Mark Rocco
, is that Big Daddy
picked him up and threw him to the ground after Capes challenged him to 'wrestle' on a training ground.
Later, he appeared on the fourth series of Shooting Stars
, alongside Patsy Kensit
, where he threw a bomb at Johnny Vegas
and in 2007 he became the face of Cadbury's Wispa relaunch, appearing on bilboards and magazine advertisements. As of Spring 2010, he was in the advert for the Great British Food Fight, which appeared on Channel 4
as well as being in an advert for Churchill insurance.
Aside from sport and television appearances, Capes is famed for breeding budgerigar
s and has had much success (a former world champion) on the show bench with his Recessive Pieds. In 2008 he assumed the role of president of the Budgerigar Society, along with Mick Widdowson who is also a keen Budgie breeder and friend. He frequently appears in the pages of Cage & Aviary Birds.
and has a daughter Emma who was English Schools shot put
champion and Youth Olympics bronze medallist. His son Lewis played American football
for the London Monarchs
. He has four grandchildren.
Strength athlete
A strength athlete is a person who trains for or competes in events in which muscular strength and power play a primary role. Such events include weightlifting and powerlifting, strength athletics and strongman competitions, and arm wrestling, as well as the "heavy throws" of track and field:...
and professional Highland Games
Highland games
Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...
competitor. As an athlete he represented both England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
and Great Britain
Great Britain
Great Britain or Britain is an island situated to the northwest of Continental Europe. It is the ninth largest island in the world, and the largest European island, as well as the largest of the British Isles...
in field athletics, specialising in the shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
an event in which he was twice Commonwealth champion
Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
, twice European champion, and three time Olympian. As a strongman, he twice won the title of World's Strongest Man
World's Strongest Man
The World's Strongest Man is a well recognised event in strength athletics and has been described by a number of highly respected authorities in the sport as the premier event in strongman. Organized by TWI, an IMG Media company, it is broadcast around the end of December each year...
, was World Muscle Power champion on two occasions, and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man
Europe's Strongest Man
Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski currently holds the record for most wins with 6 titles...
and Britain's Strongest Man
Britain's Strongest Man
Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the United Kingdom. Competitors qualify for the final through regional heats and the winner is awarded the title of "Britain's Strongest Man"...
As a Highland Games competitor he was six times world champion
World Highland Games Championships
The World Highland Games Championships is a well recognised event in both strength athletics and Highland Games. The championships are also known as the IHGF Official World Heavy Events Championships, being organised by the International Highland Games Federation...
, first winning the title in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
in 1981 and held world records in numerous events. Following retirement from competitive sport he continued to be involved in strength athletics as a referee, event promoter and coach. He also ran a sportswear retail shop and became renowned as a world-class breeder of birds. Capes stood 6 foot and weighed 23 stones (146.1 kg) at his peak condition.
Early life
Capes was born in 1949 in HolbeachHolbeach
Holbeach is a fenland market town with in the South Holland district of southern Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and a by road from the county town of Lincoln. It is on the junction of the A151 and A17...
, Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
, the seventh of nine children. He was the seventh child of Eileen Capes, though the eldest of her three children by her third husband Bill Capes. Of his older siblings, the elder two were Braithwaites and the middle four Cannons. He grew up in the town and went to the local secondary school, George Farmer. He became a member of Holbeach Athletic Club where he was coached by Stuart Storey
Stuart Storey
Stuart Storey is a British sports commentator and former 110m hurdler.-Early life:He grew up in Holbeach, later helping to coach fellow Holbeachian Geoff Capes at Holbeach Athletics Club. He was educated at Spalding Grammar School...
. He was a gifted sportsman, and represented Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire
Lincolnshire is a county in the east of England. It borders Norfolk to the south east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south west, Leicestershire and Nottinghamshire to the west, South Yorkshire to the north west, and the East Riding of Yorkshire to the north. It also borders...
at basketball
Basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of five players try to score points by throwing or "shooting" a ball through the top of a basketball hoop while following a set of rules...
, football and cross-country
Cross country running
Cross country running is a sport in which people run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and earth, pass through woodlands and open country, and include hills, flat ground and sometimes gravel road...
. In addition he was a decent sprinter, running 23.7sec for the 200m. Growing up on the Lincolnshire fens he had an early fascination with the natural world and cared for injured birds and animals from when he was a young boy. After school he worked as a coalman and an agricultural labourer, being able to load twenty tons of potato
Potato
The potato is a starchy, tuberous crop from the perennial Solanum tuberosum of the Solanaceae family . The word potato may refer to the plant itself as well as the edible tuber. In the region of the Andes, there are some other closely related cultivated potato species...
es in twenty minutes. He joined Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Cambridgeshire Constabulary
Cambridgeshire Constabulary is the territorial police force responsible for law enforcement within the ceremonial county of Cambridgeshire in the United Kingdom. In addition to the non-metropolitan county, the Police area includes the city of Peterborough, which became a unitary authority area in...
in 1970, and remained in the police for ten years.
Athletics
First and foremost, Capes was a shot putter and represented his country over a span of 11 years, winning two Commonwealth GamesCommonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an international, multi-sport event involving athletes from the Commonwealth of Nations. The event was first held in 1930 and takes place every four years....
and two Indoor European Championship titles. His first major games were the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh
Edinburgh
Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland, the second largest city in Scotland, and the eighth most populous in the United Kingdom. The City of Edinburgh Council governs one of Scotland's 32 local government council areas. The council area includes urban Edinburgh and a rural area...
, where he finished fourth. In the next two games in 1974 and 1978
1978 Commonwealth Games
The 1978 Commonwealth Games were held in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, from 3 to 12 August 1978, two years after the 1976 Summer Olympics were held in Montreal, Quebec...
he took the gold medal. In this period he also became the European Indoor Champion in both 1974 and 1976. His first Olympic experience was in 1972 when he competed in Munich
Munich
Munich The city's motto is "" . Before 2006, it was "Weltstadt mit Herz" . Its native name, , is derived from the Old High German Munichen, meaning "by the monks' place". The city's name derives from the monks of the Benedictine order who founded the city; hence the monk depicted on the city's coat...
. The 21-year-old Capes did not make it past the qualifying round, but improved on this considerably four years later. Having thrown his personal best on 28 May 1976 at Gateshead of 21.55m. Capes went into the 1976 Montreal Olympics
1976 Summer Olympics
The 1976 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXI Olympiad, was an international multi-sport event celebrated in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, in 1976. Montreal was awarded the rights to the 1976 Games on May 12, 1970, at the 69th IOC Session in Amsterdam, over the bids of Moscow and...
as one of the favourites for the gold medal. He came second in his qualifying group but went on to come sixth overall in the final, the winner being Udo Beyer
Udo Beyer
Udo Beyer is a former East German track and field athlete who competed in the shot put.- Life :Beyer is the oldest of the six children of heating mechanic Hans-Georg Beyer and his wife Eva-Marie and was born in Stalinstadt, today Eisenhüttenstadt. He grew up in Breslack, , and in Eisenhüttenstadt...
of East Germany. 1980 was the year that saw Capes putt the best distance of his career and increased the British record to 21.68m (71 ft. 3.5 in.) in Cwmbran
Cwmbran
Cwmbrân is a new town in Wales. Today forming part of the county borough of Torfaen and lying within the historic boundaries of Monmouthshire, Cwmbrân was established in 1949 to provide new employment opportunities in the south eastern portion of the South Wales Coalfield. Cwmbrân means Crow...
on 18 May 1980 being a new Commonwealth and British record. He went into the Olympics as the athlete with the best distance of the year so far and was once again a favourite for the title. However, he eventually placed fifth, the winner being Vladimir Kiselyov
Vladimir Kiselyov
Vladimir Viktorovich Kiselyov is a former Soviet athlete who mainly competed in the shot put during his career....
who although putting an Olympic Record of 21.35m was well short of Capes' distance prior to the Olympics. Capes said of his performance at the 1980 Moscow Olympics that the result that left him "numbed with disappointment".
Geoff Capes is the most capped British male
Male
Male refers to the biological sex of an organism, or part of an organism, which produces small mobile gametes, called spermatozoa. Each spermatozoon can fuse with a larger female gamete or ovum, in the process of fertilization...
athlete of all time, receiving 67 International caps, and returning 35 wins, not including a further 35 caps for England. He is a winner of 17 national titles including being 7 times a winner of the AAA championship and three times UK champion, In 1983 he was voted Britain's best ever field athlete and his 1980 British shot-putt record stood until 2003, when Carl Myerscough
Carl Myerscough
Carl Myerscough is an English athlete. He specialises in the Shot put event and is the British record holder as of 2006....
took the mantle.
Strongman
As a strongman, Capes became a household name in Britain and many parts of the world. He was particularly known for his incredible hand and arm strength, easily tearing London telephone directories in half and bending rolled steel bars measuring over 1 inch in diameter, and three feet in length. Capes turned fully professional in 1980, the Olympics in Moscow being his last event as an amateur athlete. He had already begun to make a name as a strongmanStrength athlete
A strength athlete is a person who trains for or competes in events in which muscular strength and power play a primary role. Such events include weightlifting and powerlifting, strength athletics and strongman competitions, and arm wrestling, as well as the "heavy throws" of track and field:...
having won the inaugural Britain's Strongest Man
Britain's Strongest Man
Britain's Strongest Man is an annual strongman event held in the United Kingdom. Competitors qualify for the final through regional heats and the winner is awarded the title of "Britain's Strongest Man"...
in 1979. In that competition he beat Bill Anderson, the World Highland Games champion into second place. Bill went on to the 1979 World's Strongest Man
1979 World's Strongest Man
The 1979 World's Strongest Man was the 3rd edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Don Reinhoudt from the USA. It was his first title after finishing second the previous year. Lars Hedlund from Sweden finished second after finishing third the previous year, and Bill Kazmaier also from the...
, the first Briton to compete in this tournament, whilst Capes concentrated on his athletic career. In 1980 the Olympics dominated the year and Capes did not compete in Britain's Strongest Man, but he did compete later in the Europe's Strongest Man
Europe's Strongest Man
Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski currently holds the record for most wins with 6 titles...
competition and won that. This ensured his invitation to the 1980 World's Strongest Man
1980 World's Strongest Man
The 1980 World's Strongest Man was the 4th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Bill Kazmaier from the USA. It was his first title after finishing third the previous year. Lars Hedlund from Sweden finished second after finishing second the previous year, and Geoff Capes from the United...
and on his first entry he came third behind the by then more experienced Bill Kazmaier
Bill Kazmaier
Bill Kazmaier is a former powerlifter, strongman and professional wrestler from the United States. He is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest competitors in strength competitions...
and Lars Hedlund
Lars Hedlund
Lars Hedlund is a former strongman from Sweden. Set a world record for bench press in 1979 . He competed in three World's Strongest Man contests...
. In 1981 he returned and improved to second place, again behind Kazmaier, and in 1982 he came fourth. The 1983 contest was the first held outside the United States and in Christchurch
Christchurch
Christchurch is the largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the country's second-largest urban area after Auckland. It lies one third of the way down the South Island's east coast, just north of Banks Peninsula which itself, since 2006, lies within the formal limits of...
, New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
he held off the challenge of a world class field including the young Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was a strongman, a powerlifter , and a bodybuilder from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times . In 1984 Jón won the Icelandic bodybuilding title in the +90 kg. class...
and to take the first of two World's Strongest Man titles. The Christchurch hosted tournament also had the Canadian world powerlifting champion, Tom Magee
Tom Magee
Tom Magee is a former Canadian powerlifter and strongman competitor from Winnipeg, Canada.-Strongman/Powerlifting:Tom was the 1982 IPF World Powerlifting Champion in the +125kg division....
, and the European powerlifting champion, Siem Wulfse, competing. But it was the duel between Sigmarsson and Capes that heralded the beginning of a great rivalry. The following year in Mora
Mora
-People:* Alberto J. Mora , General Counsel of the United States Navy * Alfonso Mora , Venezuelan former tennis player* Bruno Mora , Italian football player and coach* Cristian Mora , Ecuadorian football goalkeeper...
, Sweden, Sigmarsson, eleven years Capes' junior, took the title proclaiming "The King has lost his crown!". Capes retorted "I'll be back" and the following year won the title in Cascais
Cascais
Cascais is a coastal town in Cascais Municipality in Portugal, 30 kilometres west of Lisbon, with about 35,000 residents. It is a cosmopolitan suburb of the Portuguese capital and one of the richest municipalities in Portugal. The former fishing village gained fame as a resort for Portugal's royal...
, his closing remark being "The King has not lost his crown". Sigmarsson won once again in 1986 with Capes coming second.
Aside from the World's Strongest Man, Capes also won Europe's Strongest Man
Europe's Strongest Man
Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski currently holds the record for most wins with 6 titles...
on three occasions, in London (1980), Amsterdam (1982) and Marken (1984). He regained his Britain's Strongest Man title in 1981 and again in 1983. He won the World Muscle Power championship in 1987, and has been ascribed two World Muscle Power championships by the creator of the event, David Webster, although other sources suggest the 1987 victory was the only one. In 1987 his win in the World Muscle Power was accompanied by a win in the World Strongman Challenge
World Strongman Challenge
The World Strongman Challenge was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running in various guises for twenty years, with only two years break. In that time it attained the position of one of the most prestigious strongman contest in the world, after the World's Strongest Man and...
and he is one of only three athletes to have won all three titles. There was no World's Strongest Man that year, but an event was held designed specifically to pit the three most successful strongmen against one another. Called the Pure Strength
Pure Strength
Pure Strength was a strongman competition held from 1987 to 1990 which was created by Tjalling van den Bosch.-Event History:The first year of the event was known as "Pure Strength Challenge" and was a single man competition featuring only Bill Kazmaier, Geoff Capes and Jon Pall Sigmarsson. The...
, the Ultimate Challenge, it featured Bill Kazmaier
Bill Kazmaier
Bill Kazmaier is a former powerlifter, strongman and professional wrestler from the United States. He is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest competitors in strength competitions...
, Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was a strongman, a powerlifter , and a bodybuilder from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times . In 1984 Jón won the Icelandic bodybuilding title in the +90 kg. class...
and Geoff Capes. The event was held at Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle
Huntly Castle is a ruined castle in Huntly in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. It was the ancestral home of the chief of Clan Gordon, Earl of Huntly.-History:...
and Capes entered despite having been in hospital the previous weekend with strained trapeziums. Strong performances in the first few rounds belied his condition but he eventually pulled out during the log-lift and ended the contest in third place. Capes, the oldest of the three, was close to strongman retirement at this stage and the next year, the World Muscle Power where he finished second, proved to be his last major outing as a strongman.
In terms of a legacy in strength athletics Capes stands shoulder to shoulder with the very best. A multiple winner of the World's Strongest Man, along with many podium finishes in that competition, is an achievement magnified by the fact that this was done whilst competing with two other men who have both been hailed as the greatest of all time, namely Sigmarsson and Kazmaier. In addition, he won every major tournament of the era and was hugely successful in other sporting endeavours, still hailed as one of the greatest Highland Games competitors of all time. As a strongman he was not from the typical background of weightlifting, powerlifting or bodybuilding yet rose to the very top of the field through his sheer natural strength. In the 'Strength Athlete' magazine issues of the late 1980s and early 1990s there were interviews with a number of leading strongmen of the era. A consistent pairing of questions was asked to each man, being "who is the 'strongest' Strongman of all time?" and "who is the 'best' Strongman of all time?". Of the fifty-three respondents, only one named Capes as the strongest, but nineteen named him as the best. This was the highest number of votes, with the second highest number of nominations in this category being twelve to Jon Pall Sigmarsson. Although it is true to say that a number of his votes came from British based athletes, (notably former World's Strongest Man Jamie Reeves
Jamie Reeves
Jamie Reeves is a former coal miner, strongman and professional wrestler. As a strongman, he won the 1989 World's Strongest Man, was World Muscle Power champion, and also had numerous other titles including Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man...
being among that number) he also was named as best strongman of all time by Magnus Ver Magnusson
Magnús Ver Magnússon
Magnús Ver Magnússon is a former powerlifter and strongman competitor from Egilsstaðir, Iceland. Magnus won the title of World's Strongest Man four times ....
, Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was a strongman, a powerlifter , and a bodybuilder from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times . In 1984 Jón won the Icelandic bodybuilding title in the +90 kg. class...
and Ted Van Der Parre
Ted van der Parre
Ted van der Parre is a former strongman from the Netherlands who won the World's Strongest Man contest in 1992 and was 4th in 1991. He also participated in 1994 when he finished 8th, having to drop out after the second event due to a calf injury...
. Capes himself named Bill Kazmaier
Bill Kazmaier
Bill Kazmaier is a former powerlifter, strongman and professional wrestler from the United States. He is widely considered to be one of the all-time greatest competitors in strength competitions...
as the strongest, Jon Pall Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was a strongman, a powerlifter , and a bodybuilder from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times . In 1984 Jón won the Icelandic bodybuilding title in the +90 kg. class...
as the best.
Highland Games
As a professional, Capes' mainstay was in fact Highland GamesHighland games
Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &Highland games are events held throughout the &(-è_çà in Scotland and other countries as a way of celebrating Scottish and Celtic culture and heritage, especially that of the Scottish Highlands. Certain...
. He competed at many gatherings in Scotland and across the world and became a hugely popular and respected figure. He won the World Heavy Events title in Lagos
Lagos
Lagos is a port and the most populous conurbation in Nigeria. With a population of 7,937,932, it is currently the third most populous city in Africa after Cairo and Kinshasa, and currently estimated to be the second fastest growing city in Africa...
in 1981, in a year when there were two world championships, the second won in Melbourne by Bill Anderson. He went on to win again in 1983 in Carmunnock
Carmunnock
Carmunnock is a conservation village within the City of Glasgow boundary, lying within three miles of East Kilbride and Rutherglen in South Lanarkshire, and Busby, East Renfrewshire....
and the next four consecutive titles, making him the most successful competitor ever in terms of titles. He set world records in many disciplines, including the 56 lb weight over the bar and brick lifting. As a Highland competitor he was dubbed Geoff Dubh Laidir, translated as Black Strong Geoff.
Sport after retirement
Capes went on to coach many rising stars in both athletics and strength athletics. Adrian SmithAdrian Smith (strongman)
Adrian Smith is a former strongman competitor from Great Britain. Adrian started his strength career in bodybuilding before switching over to strongman. He was trained by the legendary Geoff Capes for the 1990 World's Strongest Man competition, his only appearance in WSM, finishing in 5th place...
later took fifth sport at the World's Strongest Man
World's Strongest Man
The World's Strongest Man is a well recognised event in strength athletics and has been described by a number of highly respected authorities in the sport as the premier event in strongman. Organized by TWI, an IMG Media company, it is broadcast around the end of December each year...
under the combined coaching of Capes and Bill Pittuck
Bill Pittuck
Bill Pittuck is a British strongman competitor, notable for having won both major British titles and having been a repeat competitor at the World's Strongest Man, as well as achieving a high standing in the World Muscle Power Classic.- Biography :Bill Pittuck rose to prominence in the early 1990s...
. Capes also helped promote the Daily Star funded UK Strongest Man tournaments until the turn of the millennium.
Life outside of sport
Outside of his sporting career Capes was for a long time a policeman and prior to that was a member of the Air Training CorpsAir Training Corps
The Air Training Corps , commonly known as the Air Cadets, is a cadet organisation based in the United Kingdom. It is a voluntary youth group which is part of the Air Cadet Organisation and the Royal Air Force . It is supported by the Ministry of Defence, with a regular RAF Officer, currently Air...
. Prior to his athletic retirement he had been awarded the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal
The Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal was a commemorative medal created in 1977 to mark the 25th anniversary of the accession to the throne of Queen Elizabeth II...
in 1977, for services to the community. He went on to run a sportswear retail shop in Holbeach
Holbeach
Holbeach is a fenland market town with in the South Holland district of southern Lincolnshire, England. The town lies from Spalding; from Boston; from King's Lynn; from Peterborough; and a by road from the county town of Lincoln. It is on the junction of the A151 and A17...
, before moving to Spalding
Spalding
-Places:Australia* Spalding, South Australia, a town north of the Clare Valley* Spalding, Western Australia, a suburb of GeraldtonCanada* Spalding, Saskatchewan, a village* Spalding No...
where in 1998 he became a Justice of the Peace
Justice of the Peace
A justice of the peace is a puisne judicial officer elected or appointed by means of a commission to keep the peace. Depending on the jurisdiction, they might dispense summary justice or merely deal with local administrative applications in common law jurisdictions...
. At the height of his fame in 1985, the game Geoff Capes Strongman was released on the Amstrad CPC
Amstrad CPC
The Amstrad CPC is a series of 8-bit home computers produced by Amstrad between 1984 and 1990. It was designed to compete in the mid-1980s home computer market dominated by the Commodore 64 and the Sinclair ZX Spectrum, where it successfully established itself primarily in the United Kingdom,...
, the ZX Spectrum
ZX Spectrum
The ZX Spectrum is an 8-bit personal home computer released in the United Kingdom in 1982 by Sinclair Research Ltd...
and the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
, featuring a truck pulling and tug-of-war, allowing control of each muscle group. His profile also led to numerous appearances on British television, one such example being in the Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television
Tyne Tees Television is the ITV television franchise for North East England and parts of North Yorkshire. As of 2009, it forms part of a non-franchise ITV Tyne Tees & Border region, shared with the ITV Border region...
programme Supergran
Supergran
Super Gran is a 1980s children's television programme, about a grandmother with super powers. The show was adapted by Jenny McDade from books written by Forrest Wilson and was produced by Tyne Tees Television for Children's ITV, with the titular character played by Gudrun Ure, and Iain Cuthbertson...
in the episode "Supergran Grounded". A persistent story about Capes is that in 1979, he stood in for friend and fellow strongman David Prowse
David Prowse
David Prowse, MBE is an English former bodybuilder, weightlifter and actor, most widely known for playing the role of Darth Vader in physical form. In Britain, he is also remembered as having played the Green Cross Code man...
to play the part of Darth Vader
Darth Vader
Darth Vader is a central character in the Star Wars saga, appearing as one of the main antagonists in the original trilogy and as the main protagonist in the prequel trilogy....
in several scenes during filming of The Empire Strikes Back while Prowse recovered from an elbow injury. During an interview on BBC Radio Cleveland
BBC Radio Cleveland
BBC Tees is the BBC Local Radio service for the English areas of Teesside, County Durham and some of North Yorkshire. It broadcasts from its studios in Middlesbrough on 95.0 and 95.8 FM.-BBC Radio Teeside :...
on 31 January 2007, Capes was asked about this and he stated that it never happened. Another story, told on Youtube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
by former wrestler Mark Rocco
Mark Rocco
Mark Hussey is a retired English professional wrestler who competed for All-Star Wrestling as Mark "Rollerball" Rocco and as the original masked Black Tiger in New Japan Pro Wrestling during the 1970s and 80s...
, is that Big Daddy
Shirley Crabtree
Shirley Crabtree, Jr, better known as Big Daddy was a British professional wrestler famous for his record-breaking 64 inch chest...
picked him up and threw him to the ground after Capes challenged him to 'wrestle' on a training ground.
Later, he appeared on the fourth series of Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars
Shooting Stars is a British television comedy panel game broadcast on BBC Two as a pilot in 1993, then as 3 full series from 1995 to 1997, then on BBC Choice from January to December 2002 with 2 series before returning to BBC Two for another 3 series from 2008 until its axing in 2011...
, alongside Patsy Kensit
Patsy Kensit
Patricia Jude Francis "Patsy" Kensit is an English actress, singer, model and former child star, known for her television and film appearances. Her films include Lethal Weapon 2 and she has been married to rock stars Jim Kerr and Liam Gallagher, as well as herself fronting the band Eighth Wonder...
, where he threw a bomb at Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas
Johnny Vegas is an English actor and comedian. He is known for his angry rants, portly figure, high husky voice and support of St Helens rugby league club. More recently he has moved into dramatic acting.-Early life:He was born in St Helens, Lancashire, the youngest of four children of Laurence...
and in 2007 he became the face of Cadbury's Wispa relaunch, appearing on bilboards and magazine advertisements. As of Spring 2010, he was in the advert for the Great British Food Fight, which appeared on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
as well as being in an advert for Churchill insurance.
Aside from sport and television appearances, Capes is famed for breeding budgerigar
Budgerigar
The Budgerigar , also known as Common Pet Parakeet or Shell Parakeet informally nicknamed the budgie, is a small, long-tailed, seed-eating parrot, and the only species in the Australian genus Melopsittacus...
s and has had much success (a former world champion) on the show bench with his Recessive Pieds. In 2008 he assumed the role of president of the Budgerigar Society, along with Mick Widdowson who is also a keen Budgie breeder and friend. He frequently appears in the pages of Cage & Aviary Birds.
Personal life
Capes currently lives at Stoke Rochford, near GranthamGrantham
Grantham is a market town within the South Kesteven district of Lincolnshire, England. It bestrides the East Coast Main Line railway , the historic A1 main north-south road, and the River Witham. Grantham is located approximately south of the city of Lincoln, and approximately east of Nottingham...
and has a daughter Emma who was English Schools shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....
champion and Youth Olympics bronze medallist. His son Lewis played American football
American football
American football is a sport played between two teams of eleven with the objective of scoring points by advancing the ball into the opposing team's end zone. Known in the United States simply as football, it may also be referred to informally as gridiron football. The ball can be advanced by...
for the London Monarchs
London Monarchs
The London Monarchs were a professional American football team in NFL Europe and its predecessor league, the World League of American Football . The Monarchs played their final season in 1998 as the England Monarchs...
. He has four grandchildren.