Brian Shaw isn’t a fan of at-home lifting events being considered official.
2020 has had it’s fair share of hardships for obvious reasons. The affect of the global health crisis on multiple industries has been very apparent. The sporting industry has suffered some serious setbacks as well, but has been able to get going again, albeit with certain restrictions.
While MMA, basketball, football, and now bodybuilding have been able to make a comeback, strongman competitions have been a bit different.
While things are returning to some semblance of normal, during the quarantine a new kind of competition was allowed. Since in-person events were cancelled, World’s Ultimate Strongman offered an alternative. They did lift at home events, including Hafthor Bjornsson’s world record deadlift. These series of events have been known as Feats of Strength events.
Many strongman competitors have disagreed with this format. Many athletes believe that in order for a record to count, it should be done in regular competition. One of those athletes is Brian Shaw.
A four-time World’s Strongest Man, Brian Shaw has proven his mettle in the sport. Since the at-home events were taking place, Shaw has been opposed to the idea.
In a recent Q&A posted to YouTube, Brian Shaw was fielded a question on if he would ever compete in a Feats of Strength mini event. Shaw gave a pretty comprehensive answer.
“To answer your question, no. Simply no I will not be doing any at-home records,” said Shaw.
“When this all started, actually before it all started I made a video about these at-home records and why I personally didn’t feel like they were a good direction for the sport of strongman and I firmly 100% stand by that statement. My view on that has not changed at all, and I don’t think it’s been good for the sport at all. I’m looking forward to contests getting back underway here, with the World’s Strongest Man and the Shaw Classic coming up. So I’m really excited about those, but as far as the at-home records or the Feats of Strength or whatever they’re calling that, I will not be partaking in that, for sure.”
“When this all started, actually before it all started I made a video about these at-home records and why I personally didn’t feel like they were a good direction for the sport of strongman and I firmly 100% stand by that statement. My view on that has not changed at all, and I don’t think it’s been good for the sport at all. I’m looking forward to contests getting back underway here, with the World’s Strongest Man and the Shaw Classic coming up. So I’m really excited about those, but as far as the at-home records or the Feats of Strength or whatever they’re calling that, I will not be partaking in that, for sure.”Do you agree with Brian Shaw? To see the full video click here.
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Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.
