It is easy for strength fans to rattle off the names of World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champions or many elite powerlifters, but other strength legends left their mark without winning the biggest title in their sport.
One such athlete was O.D. Wilson.
Wilson was a revered multi-sport competitor, thriving in powerlifting and strongman throughout the 1980s and early ’90s. He competed at the highest levels of both sports, but strongman fans would never see how far he could have gone because his life was cut short.
Nonetheless, longtime fans remember and revere Wilson for how he performed and impacted strength culture.
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O.D. Wilson’s Powerlifting Career
Wilson was born on Sept. 12, 1954, in Winter Haven, FL, a survivor of childhood domestic violence, who participated in sports throughout his teenage years. Wilson competed in basketball and track & field, running in the 200-meter dash. Outside of school, he worked as a farmhand, which he credited for helping him develop his strength.
After graduation, Wilson served 12 years in the U.S. Army and discovered weight training. He started lifting weights in the early 1980s and was exceptionally strong. Among the titles he earned as a super-heavyweight were five USPF Armed Forces championships.
Wilson competed in the biggest powerlifting meets of his time — he silvered the 1987 USPF Nationals and won gold a year later. He followed that by winning the IPF World Championship by nearly 100 kilograms over the second-place finisher. His full meet record is unknown, but the following placings were documented by Open Powerlifting:
- 1987 USPF Armed Forces Championships — 1st
- 1987 USPF Junior Nationals — 2nd
- 1987 USPF Nationals — 3rd
- 1988 USPF Armed Forces Nationals — 1st
- 1988 USPF Nationals — 1st
- 1988 IPF World Powerlifting Championships — 1st
- 1989 USPF Armed Forces Championships — 1st
Arguably Wilson’s most impressive meet was his last: the 1989 USPF Armed Forces Championships, where he posted his biggest career lifts: a 454.5-kilogram squat, a 250.4-kilogram bench press, and a 397.3-kilogram deadlift for a total of 1,102.2 kilograms, a single-ply all-time world record at the time.
When not competing, Wilson worked as a bodyguard, reportedly providing protection for celebrities like Michael and Janet Jackson.
O.D. Wilson’s Strongman Career
Wilson became known as “The Nightmare” because of his immense size. The six-foot-five, 400-pound powerhouse impacted the sport of strongman forever despite competing for only three years. During that time, he was the sport’s top-ranked American.
After Bill Kazmaier won three straight WSM titles, no other American secured the title until Phil Pfister in 2006. Wilson was one of the closest, though, winning silver in 1990, only a half-point behind champion Jon Pall Sigmarsson.
Wilson and Kazmaier teamed up for a silver finish in the 1989 Pure Strength team competition. The duo claimed gold in the 1990 contest. Wilson vowed to stand atop the podium at the 1991 WSM, but a back injury impacted his performance. He ranked fifth overall — his last WSM appearance.
Wilson’s verified individual strongman performances are below, courtesy of Strongman Archives.
- 1989 Kraftur Event — 6th
- 1989 World Strongman Challenge — 3rd
- 1990 European Hercules — 8th
- 1990 Hreysti — 2nd
- 1990 World Muscle Power Classic — 7th
- 1990 World Strongman Challenge — 4th
- 1990 World’s Strongest Man — 2nd
- 1991 World Muscle Power Classic — 5th
- 1991 World Viking Challenge — 3rd
- 1991 World Strongman Challenge — 2nd
- 1991 World’s Strongest Man — 5th
- 1991 European Hercules — 4th
Wilson was interviewed about the 1991 WSM contest at a radio station on Oct. 29, 1991. He asked to step outside to get some air, where he suffered cardiac arrest and passed away at age 37. Despite never being crowned the WSM champion, he remains a legend of strength who has been revered for over three decades since his passing.
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