Pure Strength

Pure Strength was a vintage Strongman competition held from 1987 to 1990 in Scotland and England which was created by Tjalling van den Bosch.^[1]

Pure Strength

Tournament information
Location	Various
Established	1987
Final year	1990
Format	Multi-event competition
Final champion
Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson

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.^[2]

Event Placings

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Pure Strength 1987	Jón Páll Sigmarsson	Bill Kazmaier	Geoff Capes	Huntly Castle Aberdeenshire, Scotland
Pure Strength II 1988	Bill Kazmaier Stuart Thompson	Jamie Reeves Mark Higgins	Ab Wolders Tjalling van den Bosch	Allington Castle Kent, England
Pure Strength III 1989	Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon	Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson	Jamie Reeves Mark Higgins	Stirling Castle Stirling, Scotland
Pure Strength IV 1990	Bill Kazmaier O.D. Wilson	Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon	Tjalling van den Bosch Ted van der Parre	England

Venues

• 
  Huntly Castle was the location for Pure Strength '87
• 
  Allington Castle was the location for Pure Strength II in 1988
• 
  Stirling Castle was the setting for Pure Strength III in 1989