Jón Páll Sigmarsson (April 28, 1960 – January 16, 1993) was a strongman, a powerlifter , a bodybuilder and a weightlifter from Iceland who won the World's Strongest Man Competition four times (1984, 1986, 1988, 1990). In 1984 Sigmarsson won the Icelandic bodybuilding title in the +90 kg. class. His achievements in powerlifting also include Icelandic records in the bench press and the squat, but his best performances were usually in the deadlift event, in which he set the European record many times and multiple world records in strongman competition deadlift variations, such as the rectangular handled wheel and one handed deadlift.
A famous quote from him is "there is no point in being alive if you cannot do the deadlift". In a tragic irony, he died at the age of 32 while performing this exercise in the gym. He knew he had serious heart problems in his family and was aware of this weakness. He will always be remembered as one of the greatest strength athletes of his time.
Once in a Strongman competition, someone in the audience called him an eskimo, then he shouted back: "I am not an Eskimo, I am a Viking!" Two other famous quotes are, "I am in seventh heaven" which was his translation of an Icelandic saying, and "Ekkert mál fyrir Jón Pál" which roughly translates as "It is no haul for Jon Paul".
Strongman contest history
World's Strongest Man
1983 - 2nd
1984 - 1st
1985 - 2nd
1986 - 1st
1988 - 1st
1989 - 3rd
1990 - 1st
World Muscle Power Championship
1985 - 1st
1986 - 1st
1987 - 1st
1988 - 3rd
1989 - 1st
1990 - 1st
1991 - 1st
1992 - 1st
Europe's Strongest Man
1983 - 3rd
1985 - 1st
1986 - 1st
1987 - 3rd
1988 - 2nd
1989 - 3rd
1990 - 4th
1992 - 4th
Other contests
1980 European Powerlifting Championships - 2nd
1981 European Powerlifting Championships - 2nd
1981 World Powerlifting Championships - 3rd
1982 Scandinavian Strongest Man - 1st
1983 European Powerlifting Championships - 1st
1985 Le Defi Mark Ten (Canada) - 3rd
1986 Le Defi Mark Ten (Canada) - 2nd
1986 Carmunnock Highland Games (Scotland) - 7th
1986 Commonwealth Highland Games (Scotland) - 1st
1987 Le Defi Mark Ten (Canada) - 5th
1987 Ultimate Challenge Competition - 1st
1987 Japan Grand Prix - 2nd
1987 Pure Strength - 1st
1989 Corby Great Eccleston (England) - 1st
1989 Iceland's Kraftur Contest - 1st
1989 Scottish Power Challenge - 1st
1990 Nissan Power Cup - 1st
1990 European Muscle Power Championship
1991 European Hercules - 2nd
1992 European Hercules - 6th
Iceland's Strongest Man winner - 1985, 1990, 1991, 1992
Finland's Strongest Man winner - 1989, 1992
Death
Jon Pall Sigmarsson died on the 16th January 1993 of a heart attack. He was working out in his gym in Iceland when he suffered the heart attack, caused, it is thought, by a torn aorta which was related to a weakened heart, a problem that was known to exist in his family.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iL77rX0DsX4#noexternalembeddokumentar om han
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b2kIcwXFH0Y&feature=related
