Geoff Capes facts for kids

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Geoff Capes

Geoff Capes, 1980s
Personal information
Birth name	Geoffrey Lewis Capes JP
Born	(1949-08-23)23 August 1949 Holbeach, Lincolnshire, England
Died	23 October 2024(2024-10-23) (aged 75)
Years active	1970–1989
Weight	170 kg
Sport
Country	Great Britain and England
Medal record Men's athletics Representing  Great Britain European Athletics Championships Bronze 1974 Rome Shot put European Indoor Championships Gold 1974 Gothenburg Shot put Gold 1976 Munich Shot put Silver 1975 Katowice Shot put Silver 1977 San Sebastián Shot put Silver 1979 Vienna Shot put Bronze 1978 Milan Shot put Representing  England Commonwealth Games Gold 1974 Christchurch Shot put Gold 1978 Edmonton Shot put Strongman Representing  United Kingdom World's Strongest Man 3rd 1980 Vernon 2nd 1981 Magic Mountain 1st 1983 Christchurch 3rd 1984 Mora 1st 1985 Cascais 2nd 1986 Nice World Muscle Power Classic 2nd 1985 East Kilbride 1st 1987 East Kilbride 2nd 1988 East Kilbride Europe's Strongest Man 1st 1980 London 2nd 1981 Stockholm 1st 1982 Amsterdam 2nd 1983 Arnhem 1st 1984 Marken 2nd 1987 Amsterdam World Strongman Challenge 1st 1987 Tokyo

Geoffrey Lewis Capes (born August 23, 1949 – died October 23, 2024) was a famous English athlete. He was a police officer, a shot putter, a strongman, and competed in Highland Games. Geoff Capes was very well known in the UK during the 1980s. People knew him for his amazing strength and for appearing on TV shows like Superstars and World's Strongest Man. He won the World's Strongest Man title twice!

Capes represented England and Great Britain in field athletics. He was especially good at the shot put. In this event, he won the Commonwealth Games twice and the European Indoor Athletics Championships twice. He also competed in three Olympic Games. As of October 2024, he still holds the British record for the shot put. He set this record in 1980 by throwing the shot put 21.68 metres (71 ft 2 in).

As a strongman, he won the World's Strongest Man competition twice. He also won the World Muscle Power Classic twice. On top of that, he earned many other titles, including Europe's Strongest Man and Britain's Strongest Man.

In the Highland Games, he was a six-time world champion. He first won this title in Lagos in 1981. He also set many world records in different Highland Games events.

After he stopped competing, Geoff Capes stayed involved in strength athletics. He worked as a referee, helped organize events, and coached other athletes. He also owned a sportswear shop. Later, he became famous for breeding birds, especially budgerigars. Geoff Capes was very tall, standing , and weighed 170 kg (375 lb) when he was at his peak.

Early Life and Career Beginnings

Geoff Capes was born on August 23, 1949, in Holbeach, Lincolnshire. He was the seventh of nine children in his family. He grew up in Holbeach and went to the local secondary school, George Farmer. He joined the Holbeach Athletic Club, where Stuart Storey coached him.

Capes was a very talented sportsman. He played basketball, football, and competed in cross-country for Lincolnshire. He was also a good sprinter. From a young age, he loved nature and often cared for injured birds and animals. After school, he worked as a coalman and a farm worker. He was so strong that he could load twenty tons of potatoes in just twenty minutes!

In 1970, he joined the Cambridgeshire Constabulary (police force). He worked as a police officer for ten years. He left the police force in 1980 because he decided to compete in the 1980 Moscow Olympics. This was despite the British Government asking athletes to boycott the Games.

Athletics Achievements

Geoff Capes was a top shot putter for 11 years. He won two Commonwealth Games titles and two European Indoor Championship titles. His first big competition was the 1970 Commonwealth Games in Edinburgh, where he finished fourth. He then won gold medals at the next two Commonwealth Games in 1974 and 1978. During this time, he also became the European Indoor Champion in 1974 and 1976.

His first Olympic experience was in 1972 in Munich. He didn't get past the first round then. But four years later, he did much better. In May 1976, he threw a personal best of 21.55 metres (70 ft 8 in). This made him one of the favorites for a medal at the 1976 Montreal Olympics. He finished sixth in the final.

In 1980, Capes made the longest throw of his career: 21.68 metres (71 ft 2 in) in Cwmbran. This was a new British and Commonwealth record. He went into the Moscow Olympics as a favorite again. However, he finished fifth. Capes said he was "numbed with disappointment" by his performance there.

Capes is the British male athlete with the most international appearances, called "caps." He earned 67 caps for Great Britain and 35 for England. He won 17 national titles, including seven AAA championships and three UK championships. In 1983, he was voted Britain's best-ever field athlete. His 1980 British shot put record still stands today.

Strongman Competitions

As a strongman, Geoff Capes became very famous in Britain and around the world. He was known for his incredible hand and arm strength. He could easily tear London telephone books in half! He could also bend thick steel bars, over 1 inch wide and three feet long.

Capes became a full-time professional strongman in 1980. The Moscow Olympics was his last event as an amateur athlete. He had already started to make a name for himself as a strongman. He won the first Britain's Strongest Man competition in 1979.

In 1980, Capes won the Europe's Strongest Man competition. This led to an invitation to the 1980 World's Strongest Man. In his first try, he came third. In 1981, he improved to second place.

The 1983 World's Strongest Man competition was held outside the United States for the first time, in Christchurch, New Zealand. Capes won his first World's Strongest Man title there. He beat strong competitors like Jón Páll Sigmarsson from Iceland. Capes won the truck pull and weight over bar events. He also came second in the farmer's walk and other events. This competition started a great rivalry between Capes and Sigmarsson.

The next year, in Mora, Sweden, Sigmarsson won the title. Capes finished third and famously said, "I'll be back!"

Capes was determined to win back his title at the 1985 World's Strongest Man in Cascais, Portugal. He won several events, including the truck pull and arm-over-arm pull. Despite one bad event, he scored enough points to win his second World's Strongest Man title. He beat Sigmarsson again and proudly declared, "The King has not lost his crown!" Their rivalry continued, and Sigmarsson won again in 1986, with Capes finishing second.

Besides the World's Strongest Man, Capes won Europe's Strongest Man three times: in London (1980), Amsterdam (1982), and Marken (1984). He also won Britain's Strongest Man again in 1981 and 1983. Capes won the World Muscle Power Classic championship in 1987. He is one of only three athletes to have won the World's Strongest Man, Europe's Strongest Man, and World Strongman Challenge titles.

In 1987, Capes competed in Pure Strength against Bill Kazmaier and Jón Páll Sigmarsson. Capes was already close to retiring from strongman competitions. He finished third in that event. The next year, at the 1988 World Muscle Power Classic, he finished second. This was his last major strongman competition.

Highland Games Success

Geoff Capes competed in many Highland Games events in Scotland and around the world. He became a very popular and respected figure. He won the World Heavy Events title in Lagos in 1981. He then won again in 1983 and for the next four years in a row. This made him the most successful competitor ever in terms of titles.

He set world records in many events, including the 56-pound Weight over bar and brick lifting. In the Highland Games, he was known as Geoff Dubh Laidir, which means "Black Strong Geoff." He still holds the shot put record at the Cowal Highland Gathering, Scotland's only international heavy athletics competition, with a throw of 18.50 metres (60 ft 8 in) from 1980.

Life Outside of Sport

Outside of his amazing sports career, Geoff Capes was a policeman for many years. Before that, he was part of the Air Training Corps. In 1977, he received the Queen Elizabeth II Silver Jubilee Medal for his service to the community.

After retiring, he ran a sportswear shop in Holbeach. Later, he moved to Spalding and became a Justice of the Peace (a type of judge) in 1998.

At the peak of his fame in 1985, a video game called Geoff Capes Strongman was released. It was available on computers like the Amstrad CPC, ZX Spectrum, and Commodore 64. The game featured events like truck pulling and tug-of-war. He also appeared in a memorable TV commercial for the Volkswagen Polo Mk2 car, where he picked up the car and rolled it over with his bare hands! He made many appearances on British television, including the show Supergran and Blue Peter. In 1987, he was a timekeeper for a charity TV special called The Grand Knockout Tournament.

Capes also appeared on the TV show Shooting Stars and in 2007, he became the face of Cadbury's Wispa chocolate bar relaunch. He appeared on billboards and in magazine ads. He was also in adverts for the Great British Food Fight and Churchill insurance.

Beyond sports and TV, Geoff Capes was very famous for breeding budgerigars (small parrots). He was a former world champion in budgerigar shows. In 2008, he became the president of the Budgerigar Society. He often appeared in the magazine Cage & Aviary Birds.

Personal Life and Passing

Geoff Capes lived in Stoke Rochford, near Grantham. His daughter, Emma, was an English Schools' shot put champion and won a bronze medal at the Youth Olympics. His son, Lewis, played American football for the London Monarchs. Geoff Capes had four grandchildren. His autobiography, Big Shot, was published in 1981.

Geoff Capes passed away on October 23, 2024, at the age of 75.

Competition Records

International Competitions

Year	Competition	Venue	Position	Event	Notes
Representing  Great Britain and  England
1970	British Commonwealth Games	Edinburgh, United Kingdom	4th	Shot put	17.06 m
1971	European Indoor Championships	Sofia, Bulgaria	10th	Shot put	17.84 m
	European Championships	Helsinki, Finland	16th (q)	Shot put	18.54 m
1972	European Indoor Championships	Grenoble, France	8th	Shot put	18.67 m
	Olympic Games	Munich, West Germany	20th (q)	Shot put	18.94 m
1973	European Indoor Championships	Rotterdam, Netherlands	7th	Shot put	19.26 m
1974	British Commonwealth Games	Christchurch, New Zealand	1st	Shot put	20.74 m
			5th	Discus throw	51.84 m
	European Indoor Championships	Gothenburg, Sweden	1st	Shot put	20.95 m
	European Championships	Rome, Italy	3rd	Shot put	20.21 m
1975	European Indoor Championships	Katowice, Poland	2nd	Shot put	19.98 m
1976	European Indoor Championships	Munich, Germany	1st	Shot put	20.64 m
	Olympic Games	Montreal, Canada	6th	Shot put	20.36 m
1977	European Indoor Championships	San Sebastián, Spain	2nd	Shot put	20.46 m
1978	European Indoor Championships	Milan, Italy	3rd	Shot put	20.11 m
	Commonwealth Games	Edmonton, Canada	1st	Shot put	19.77 m
	European Championships	Prague, Czechoslovakia	–	Shot put	DQ
1980	Olympic Games	Moscow, Soviet Union	5th	Shot put	20.50 m

National Championships

British National Championships (AAA)

• 1st: 1972, 1973, 1975–1979
• 2nd: 1971, 1974, 1980
• 3rd: 1970

UK Championships

• 1st in shot put: 1977–1979
• 3rd in discus: 1978

Highland Games

World Highland Games Championships

• Winner 1981 to 1987

Strongman Contests

World's Strongest Man

• 1st: 1983, 1985
• 2nd: 1981, 1986
• 3rd: 1980, 1984
• 4th: 1982

World's Strongest Team

• Winner: 1987

World Strongman Challenge

• Winner: 1987

Europe's Strongest Man

• 1st: 1980, 1982, 1984
• 2nd: 1983

World Muscle Power

• 1st: 1985
• 2nd: 1987, 1988

Battle of the Giants

• 1st: 1987–1989

Commonwealth Games Strongman

• 2nd: 1986

Britain's Strongest Man

• 1st 1979, 1981, 1983

British Muscle Power Championship

• 1st: 1986, 1987

UK Truck Pulling Championships − (Mercedes Benz)

• 1st: 1986

See also

In Spanish: Geoff Capes para niños