Four-time World’s Strongest Man (WSM) Brian Shaw has been busy since retiring from competition in 2023.
- The Strongest Man on Earth competition, part of the Shaw Classic, which Shaw promotes, has blossomed into one of the major strongman contests of the season; he’s tested his hand at MMA and arm-wrestling and received international notoriety for his career.
Seven-time Mr. Olympia champion Phil Heath is tied for the second most Sandow trophies in history with the one-and-only Arnold Schwarzenegger. Since leaving the competitive stage after his bronze finish at the 2020 Mr. Olympia, Heath’s maintained his presence in bodybuilding through his commentary at Mr. Olympia contests.
During the 2024 Olympia in Las Vegas, NV, on Oct. 12, 2024, the International Sports Hall of Fame inducted Shaw and Heath as part of the 2024 class.
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2024 International Sports Hall of Fame Class
Shaw and Heath were the two athletes recognized from the world of strength sports but were not the only athletes in the 2024 class. They were joined by:
- Jim Plunkett — 16 Seasons in the NFL, Two-Time Superbowl Champion
- Meisha Tate — UFC Bantamweight Champion
- JJ Perry — American Stuntman (career highlight includes Mortal Kombat franchise)
- Bruce Buffer — UFC Ring Announcer
Brian Shaw
Shaw is regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time by his fellow strongman peers. During the prime of his strongman career, his rivalry with four-time WSM champion Zydrunas Savickas was one of legend. They each have 10 WSM podiums and traded the WSM title back and forth five times from 2010 to 2015.
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Shaw holds the record for most consecutive WSM Final appearances at 15, also the most WSM Final appearances by any strongman in history. Shaw won 62 WSM events throughout his career — a still-standing record.
Phil Heath
Phil “The Gift” Heath is regarded as a genetically gifted athlete whose Olympia dynasty etched him into the pantheon of bodybuilding’s greatest. He successfully defended his Mr. Olympia title six times after capturing it in 2011.
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Heath’s Olympia debut was in 2008 when he won bronze. After dipping to fifth in 2009, he returned to silver in 2010 and then held the Sandow Trophy from 2011 to 2017 before conceding it to Shawn Rhonen in 2018. Heath returned in 2020 to win bronze before leaving the competitive stage.
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Featured image via the ShawStrength YouTube channel.
