Brian Shaw is one of the world’s premiere strongmen; that much is certain. The Colorado native and three-time World’s Strongest Man excels in a sport where a combination of size, explosiveness, and limit strength will get you far, and he’s got all three in spades.
But despite his impressive resume and mastery of some of strongman’s most height-favoring events – he recently set the record in the stone lift at 555 pounds – it’s tough to get a real sense of the man’s height unless you see him in person. That is, until he met powerlifting legend Eddy Coan and gave us a video to be watched on loop for the ages.
All looks fine until Shaw – listed at 6’8″ – puts down the comparatively diminutive Coan, who many sources list at 5’6″.
[Sneakerhead side note: Are those Nike Metcons we see Coan wearing?]
Their height difference between these two historically strong athletes is a good reminder of how genetics factor into success in strength sport. Both are multi-time world champions and among the best in history at picking up heavy things, Shaw at getting them over fixed height objects and Coan at getting them off the ground to lockout.
Want to see make a continued mockery of normal human strength and stature? Check out his insane stone world record from March’s Arnold Strongman Classic, where he takes 555 lbs for a ride over a 4 ft platform, courtesy of Rogue.
In the event of world economic collapse and a keep-what-you-can-carry apocalypse, we’re befriending Shaw as quickly as possible.
