Harrogate behemoth Luke Richardson’s bid to become the youngest ever World’s Strongest Man has been ended by injury.
Luke, who weighs 330 lbs and will be 24 years old on Sunday, tore his biceps on the first day of heats yesterday in Sacramento, America.
He finished ninth last year and had high hopes of improving after good preparation.
But he was injured in the first event, a loading medley, which involved lifting and loading numerous heavy items.
He told his 71,000 Instagram followers:
“Unfortunately my World’s Strongest Man appearance this year was pretty much over before it even started with what seems to be a distal bicep tendon rupture.
“Obviously gutted as I felt in a really good position to improve on last year’s performance but it was not to be this time.
“Just a bump in what is going to be a long road but excited to test myself against a new challenge and grow closer to the athlete and person I am destined to be.
“Thank you all for your show of support and especially my loved ones and the guys here at WSM, you’re proper gents.”
Luke, a former lifeguard at Starbeck Baths, was crowned Europe’s Strongest Man last year and he will be hoping to defend his title in Leeds on September 4.
He has also been invited to compete at the first strongman event at London’s Royal Albert Hall in 120 years on July 24.
Read more:
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Harrogate’s Luke Richardson flies to America for World’s Strongest Man
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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 Richardson
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.
Watch Harrogate man in World’s Strongest Man final on TV tonightHe conquered Europe in 2020 and tonight you can see how Harrogate’s Luke Richardson fared when he lined up against the best strongmen in the world.
Luke, 23, was one of 10 men in the final of the World’s Strongest Man, which is being broadcast on Channel 5 at 7.30pm.
The event took place in Florida in November and the Stray Ferret revealed last month how Luke fared.
If you want to know, you can type his name into the search function on our website but as many people don’t want the outcome spoiled, we won’t mention it here.
Whatever happened, 2020 was a remarkable year for Luke, a former lifeguard at Starbeck Baths who only transitioned from powerlifting to strongman just over a year ago.
He finished fourth at Britain’s Strongest Man and won Europe’s Strongest Man, which was held at Allerton Castle, near Knaresborough.
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All these events have been broadcast on Channel 5, providing huge national exposure for Luke over the festive season. He has 64,000 followers on Instagram.
Luke was one of 40 men who qualified for the World’s Strongest Man.
He finished second in his heat, which was shown on TV on Boxing Day, to American Jerry Pritchett to book his place in tonight’s final.
The final includes events such as the keg toss, Hercules hold, deadlift and the Atlas stones.
Luke has lived in Harrogate all of his life. He attended 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.
Harrogate man finishes 9th at World’s Strongest ManA Harrogate man is set to dominate TV screens over the festive period after finishing ninth at the World’s Strongest Man.
Luke Richardson’s result in Florida completed a remarkable year that has seen him go from novice to one of the most talked about strength athletes on the planet at the age of just 23.
Luke, a former powerlifter, only took part in his first strongman competition last year. Since then he has finished fourth at Britain’s Strongest Man, won Europe’s Strongest Man and is now ranked ninth in the world.
Channel 5 is due to broadcast coverage of all three events over Christmas and New Year.
Luke does the log lift. Pic courtesy of SBD.
It’s still sinking in for Luke, who was working as a lifeguard at Starbeck Baths recently and is now a professional strongman with his own gym, multiple sponsors and almost 60,000 Instagram followers. He says:
“It’s been quite a year. But I was actually a bit disappointed with my performance in the World’s Strongest Man final.
“I held my own on some events but some silly mistakes on others let me down. Next year I’d like to get in the top five, then finish on the podium and then maybe win a few.”
Read more:
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Luke would become the youngest ever winner of the World’s Strongest Man if he takes the title in 2021. Beyond that, he has his sights set on breaking the all-time record of five World’s Strongest Man titles held by Poland’s Mariusz Pudzianowski. He says:
“It’s a tall order but i’ve got age on my side and I love what I do. It’s my passion.”
Starbeck school
Luke has lived in Harrogate all of his life. He attended Starbeck Community Primary School and Harrogate High School and discovered he was “quite strong” when he joined Phoenix Fitness in Starbeck at 18.
North Yorkshire is a strongman hotspot. Darren Sadler, a former World’s Strongest Man competitor who now organises many of the leading events, owns Absolute Fitness in Boroughbridge which attracts many top competitors.
Luke trains there on a Monday night but has opened a gym in Wetherby with his training partner Richard Parish called the LR Strength Shed.
He entered his first powerlifting competition when he was 19 and won three British, two European and one world title before switching to strongman 18 months ago.
He only lost one powerlifting competition and at 21 became the youngest person ever to achieve a total of 1,000 kg in the three powerlifting lifts when he managed a 403 kg squat, 222.5 kg bench press and 385 kg deadlift.
Weighs 150 kg
Strongman is far more multi-faceted than many people realise, which makes Luke’s rapid ascent to the top even more remarkable. Luke, who is 6 ft 3 tall and weighs 150 kg, explains:
“My training has changed massively. You have to be the most versatile athlete: you’ve got to have the strength of a powerlifter and the movement of a Cross-Fitter. You have to be a jack of all trades.
“The guy who can pull 500kg on a deadlift probably won’t be as good carrying five sacks down a course because he won’t be as quick. You have to be fit, fast and big.”
Luke Richardson winning Europe’s Strongest Man. Pic courtesy of SBD.
6,000 calories a day
Luke trains five days a week for four hours a time. He eats 6,000 calories daily in five meals.
By strongman standards, he’s quite small. Hafþór Björnsson, the Icelandic former World’s Strongest Man and Game of Thrones star, is 6 ft 11 and 205 kg. Luke says:
“We are emerging out of the era of mass giants. You don’t have to be 200kg to win these days.”
It isn’t easy for strongmen to blend in but Luke still walks around Harrogate largely unnoticed. Does he ever get recognised?
“Sometimes when I’m in shops. I don’t mind. It’s nice to be recognised when you try hard to achieve something.”
After this month’s strongman TV coverage, it may happen more often.