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14
Jun 2021
Harrogate's Luke Richardson flies to America for World's Strongest Man
Harrogate strongman sensation Luke Richardson is set to compete in the World's Strongest Man in America this week.
Luke, who turns 24 on Sunday, is one of 25 men in Sacramento vying for the right to be called the strongest on the planet.
If he wins he will be the youngest man ever to hold the title.
This year's event is expected to be broadcast to 500 million people in 70 countries. It will be shown on Channel 5 in the UK over Christmas and on CBS Sports Network in the United States next month.
Britain has a great pedigree in the event, with former winners including Geoff Capes, Jamie Reeves and Gary Taylor, but endured a 24-year wait until Eddie Hall triumphed in 2017.
Luke, who is 6ft 3 and weighs 330 lbs, took the sport by storm last year when he won Europe's Strongest Man in Knaresborough and finished ninth in the World's Strongest Man in his first full season of strongman.
This year he has been drawn in a group with Canadian JF Caron, American Robert Oberst, Iceland's Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted and Russian Mikhail Shivlyakov.
The heats, which begin on Wednesday and last three days, include events such as the train pull, deadlift and pickaxe hold.
The two-day final will culminate, as ever, with the Atlas stones.
Luke went to Starbeck Community Primary School and Harrogate High School and now trains at Absolute Fitness in Boroughbridge and LR Strength Shed in Wetherby, which he and training partner Richard Parish opened.
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