Matjaz Belsak
Matjaz Belsak (in Slovenian Matjaž Belšak; born 23 September 1992)[1][2] is a Slovenian professional strongman[3] and powerlifter.[4][5] Having competed in 71 International strongman competitions and winning 16 of them, Belsak is the ninth most decorated strongman in history.[6]
Biography
[edit | edit source]Early life
[edit | edit source]Matjaž Belšak was born in a village Seničica,[7] near Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia[1] on 23 September 1992.[1][8][2] He grew up in a family of cooks; his parents own a restaurant "Gostilna Belšak"[9] where he still occasionally works as an apprentice chef.[7][2] He graduated in Tourist Studies.[10][11]
Powerlifting career
[edit | edit source]Matjaž started working out in 2008, when he was 15,[7] with a goal to become stronger. As his strength was increasing really fast, it soon became clear that he might be able to show some really decent results in a couple of years. He decided to compete in his first powerlifting meet in 2010, when he was 17 years old.[12][7] During his early years of strength related sports he set quite a few Slovenian national records[7][12] in powerlifting and he even won the overall gold in GPC Slovenian Powerlifting nationals in 2010.[7] In 2012 he won his first and only international powerlifting meet (GPC), totaling 875 kg / 1929 lbs (360 kg / 793,5 lbs in the squat, 190 kg / 419 lbs in bench press and 325 kg / 716,5 in deadlift).[4][5] After that competition he only focused on the sport of strongman.
Strongman career
[edit | edit source]Beginnings
[edit | edit source]A former Slovenian strongman and Slovenia's strongest man at that time Gregor Stegnar[10][13][2] saw the potential[13] in the young powerlifter and inspired him to try strongman for the first time in 2012,[7] offering him his mentorship.[7][14] Matjaž quickly fell in love with the sport.[7] He started competing in competitions in Slovenia and surrounding countries.
Becoming a professional strongman
[edit | edit source]Matjaž became a professional strongman after winning the Savickas classic competition in 2015,[10][12] which enabled him to compete in the Strongman Champions League in the next season at just 20 years old, where he was among the youngest competing athletes.
Slovenia's Strongest Man
[edit | edit source]Almost immediately after starting to compete in strongman, Matjaž won the title of Slovenia's Strongest Man in 2014[8] and did it again in 2015[8] The contest was not held during the next two years. In 2018[14] and 2019[15][16] he again won the title back to back. The contest was again not held during the next two years due to COVID-19.
From 2022 onwards, besides competing, Matjaž also took over the organizing and hosting of the competition.[17][18] He won the title in 2022, 2023 and 2024, taking his tally to 7 titles.
Strongman Champions League
[edit | edit source]- During the 2013–2016 seasons, Matjaž did only a few competitions during his first two years of competing in the Strongman Champions League, as he was mostly focusing on becoming stronger, but he competed in a lot of SCL events in 2016 and finished the season by taking the 5th place in the finals.[19]
- In the season of 2017, Matjaž won all of the SCL competitions he took part in and even won the final in Mexico,[20] becoming the 2017 Strongman Champion's League world champion,[21][22][2] achieving one of his biggest goals to that day,[14] as he stated in a video made a year before.[7]
World's Strongest Man
[edit | edit source]After a few successful years of competing on the international level, Matjaž was invited to compete in the World's Strongest Man.
- In the 2015 World's Strongest Man in Putrajaya, Malaysia, Matjaž successfully made his first appearance[11] at the event. While he didn't qualify for the finals,[23] he finished 3rd in his heat.[24]
- In the 2016 World's Strongest Man in Kasane, Botswana, Matjaž made it to the finals, finishing 9th overall.[13][25]
- In the 2017 World's Strongest Man in Gabarone, Botswana, he was unable to make it to the finals, finishing 3rd in his heat.
- In the 2018 World's Strongest Man in Manila, Philippines, Matjaž had his best performance at WSM, finishing 7th place overall in the finals.[26][27]
World's Strongest Team
[edit | edit source]- Matjaž competed for the first time in this event in 2015 World's Strongest Team, taking the 1st place with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who competed under the name 'Vikings'.[28] Yankees (Jerry Pritchett & Mike Burke) placed second while the Saxons (Eddie Hall & Mark Felix) placed third.
- He also competed in 2019 World's Strongest Team, finishing on 3rd place with Mikhail Shivlyakov.[29]
Europe's Strongest Man
[edit | edit source]Matjaž competed on three different Europe's Strongest Man competitions, always finishing in the top 10:
- In 2015 Europe's Strongest Man he made his first appearance, finishing the competition on 5th place.[30]
- In 2017 Europe's Strongest Man he placed 6th.[31][32]
- In 2018 Europe's Strongest Man Matjaž finished on the 7th place.[33]
Arnold Strongman Classic
[edit | edit source]Matjaž competed on Arnold Strongman Classic events all over the world. His most important placings were:
- 6th place at 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic USA in Columbus, OH.[34]
- 5th place at 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic USA in Columbus, OH.[35][36]
- 1st place at 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe in Barcelona, Spain.[37]
- 2nd place at 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe in Barcelona, Spain.[38]
- 1st place at 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Poland.[37]
Hip replacement and rehabilitation
[edit | edit source]Matjaž had a complete right hip replacement on 24 June 2021[39] because of an old injury. The injury made him unable to compete for some time. His first strongman competition after the hip replacement was Slovenia's Strongest man 2022,[17] which he also won, just about a year after the surgery. During the rehabilitation he also competed at Slovenia's Arm Wrestling Championship 2022.[40]
Physical characteristics
[edit | edit source]Matjaž is 187 cm tall (6 ft 2 in)[10][2] and weighs around 150 kg (330 lbs)[10][8][2] during the competitive strongman season.
Daily life
[edit | edit source]Matjaž trains most of the time in his home gym.[7][26] He usually trains for 3–4 hours a day, besides his regular stretching and mobility routines.[7] He usually has 5 meals per day[14] and consumes between 5000 and 7000 calories daily.[14] He tries to sleep for at least 8 hours every night.[7][14]
Personal records
[edit | edit source]- Deadlift – 410 kg (904 lb) (2019 Arnold Africa) (National Record)
- Elephant bar Deadlift (Raw w/straps) – 404 kg (891 lb) (2019 Arnold Strongman Classic)
- Frame Deadlift (from 15 in) – 450 kg (992 lb) (2019 Slovenia's Strongest Man)
- Car Deadlift – 340 kg (750 lb) x 16 reps (2014 SCL Hungary)
- Squat – 400 kg (882 lb) (Raw, with wraps)
- Axle press – 200 kg (441 lb) (2017 Europe's Strongest Man)
- Log press – 200 kg (441 lb) (2014 Owerhead King Austri) (National Record)
- Log press (with SCL giant log) – 195 kg (430 lb) (2017 SCL FIBO)
- Viking press – 160 kg (353 lb) x 15 reps (2016 SCL Norway)
- Block press – 140 kg (309 lb) (2014 Savickas Classic)
- Cyr Dumbbell press – 127 kg (280 lb) (2020 Arnold Strongman Classic)
- Cyr (Junior) Dumbbell press for reps (in 60 seconds) – 102 kg (225 lb) x 9 reps (has achieved this feat twice)
(2017 SCL Canada) and (2017 Festival des Hommes Forts de Warwick) (Joint-World Record)[41] - Circus Dumbbell press for reps (in 60 seconds) – 100 kg (220 lb) x 10 reps (2016 WSM - Group 1) (Former Joint-World Record)
- Circus Dumbbell press for reps (in 60 seconds) – 92 kg (203 lb) x 14 reps (2017 SCL World Finals) (World Record)[41]
- Atlas Stones – 5 stones set 140–180 kg (309–397 lb) in 19.89 seconds (2015 SCL FIBO) (World Record)[42]
- Atlas Stone to Shoulder – 140 kg (309 lb) x 8 reps/ bouncing technique (2014 Giants Live Hungary) (Former World Record)
- Max Atlas Stone – 220 kg (485 lb) (2019 Arnold Africa)
- Húsafell Stone – 186 kg (410 lb) for 55.07 meters (180 ft 8 in) (2019 Arnold Strongman Classic)
- Odd Haugen tombstone to shoulder – 186 kg (410 lb) (2019 Arnold Strongman Classic)
- Sandbag over bar – 32 kg (71 lb) over 4.57 metres (15 ft 0 in) (2018 Arnold Strongman Classic)
- Front hold – 40 kg (88 lb) for 15.94 seconds (2015 SCL Poland)
- Power Medley – 100 kg (220 lb) log carry for 20m course and 300 kg (661 lb) sled drag for 20m course in 34.50 seconds (2017 SCL World Finals) (World Record)[43]
- Conan's Wheel of Pain – 9,072 kg (20,000 lb) 32.16 meters (105 ft 6 in) (2019 Arnold Strongman Classic)
- Arm over arm truck pull – 10,000 kg (22,046 lb) for 25m course in 43.67 seconds (2015 SCL Martinique) (World Record)[44]
- Arm over arm truck pull – 18,000 kg (39,683 lb) for 20m course in 37.28 seconds (2015 SCL Austria) (World Record)[44]
- Viking Boat pull (without the sails) – 3,000 kg (6,614 lb) harness only/ no rope for 25 meters 'in ice terrain' - 16.68 seconds (2016 World's Strongest Viking / SCL Norway) (Former World Record)
- Truck pull – 31,752 kg (70,001 lb) 'uphill' for 16.12 meters (2017 Festival des Hommes Forts de Warwick)
Media appearances
[edit | edit source]Despite being one of the strongest people on earth, Matjaž does not get that much media attention in Slovenia.[14] However, he made a few appearances in Slovenian's most important media:
- In 2016 he gave an interview on a popular Slovenian radio show, hosted by Denis Avdić, where he was asked to pull a truck.[45]
- In 2018 he gave an interview for the Slovenian national television.[10]
- In 2019 Matjaž was a special guest on an annual event of Elektro Ljubljana, one of major energy suppliers in Slovenia, where he symbolically lifted a model of a transmission tower.[46]
- In 2020 he gave an interview during one of the most watched Slovenian news shows on Pop TV.[47]
References
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