Brian Shaw

Brian Shaw (born February 26, 1982) is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time.

Shaw was born in Fort Lupton, Colorado on February 26, 1982, the son of Jay and Bonnie Shaw.

Both of his parents were taller than average, with his father standing at 6 ft and his mother 5 ft. Shaw's mother has also noted that Brian had uncles of exceptional stature on both sides of his family tree.

At Fort Lupton High School, Shaw excelled in basketball.

He then attended Otero Junior College in La Junta, Colorado.

There, he was able to form an inside combination with current Louisiana State University-Alexandria Head Women's Basketball Coach Bob Austin.

Shaw was one of the team leaders for the Rattlers in his sophomore season.

Following Otero, he went to Black Hills State University where he was on a full basketball scholarship and received a degree in wellness management.

During his basketball career, Shaw was "hooked on the weights" and he has said that the weight room was his "sanctuary".

In his own words, "I've always been able to do this. The biggest tire, the heaviest stone... I've always been able to walk up and lift it. Odd strength is what it is, not weight-room strength. It's brute strength."

Shaw began his career as a strongman with a win when he entered the Denver's Strongest Man contest in October 2005.

He had entered with no formal training.

Just seven months later in June 2006, he joined the professional ranks and his successes continued.

In 2009, he entered Fortissimus, otherwise known as the Strongest Man on Earth competition, in Canada where he came in third and was the only man to lift six Atlas Stones weighing from 300 - 425 lb. He then competed in Romania in the World Strongman Super Series.

In September, he traveled to his second World's Strongest Man (WSM) contest in Valletta.

There he was grouped in what was termed the "group of death" not least because of his presence in it.

Alongside him in this group was Zydrunas Savickas who went on to win the title.

Although Savickas won the group, he and Shaw were separated by just two points.

In the final, Shaw went on to attain a podium finish, something Randell Strossen of IronMind had predicted would happen when he said "he has to be considered a favorite for a podium position. If he can stay healthy, there's no end to what he could do. He's got these gifts. He's the total package."

Shaw qualified for the finals at the 2010 World's Strongest Man in Sun City, South Africa in September 2010.

He was tied for the lead at the end of the finals with Zydrunas Savickas and lost by countback, a system of scoring based on how the athletes placed in each event throughout the finals.

Savickas had higher overall placings (2 first places and 1 second place out of 6 events) than Shaw (2 first places and 1 fourth place out of 6 events) and won the 2010 title.

Shaw had a costly mistake in the first event of the finals, the Loading Race, failing to secure a third 125kg sack onto the platform.

He fell from a 1st place finish to 3rd place in that event, costing him valuable points against Savickas.

Shaw competed against Savickas again in October 2010 at the Giants Live Istanbul contest.

Shaw again finished second behind Savickas.

Shaw won the inaugural Jón Páll Sigmarsson Classic on November 21, 2010.

Shaw won the Strongman Super Series Swedish Grand Prix and became the 2010 overall Super Series champion on December 18, 2010.

This was Shaw's second consecutive overall Super Series championship.

He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more.

In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015.

With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.

In 2011, Shaw once again participated in the World's Strongest Man competition.

Going into the final event, the Atlas Stones, Shaw was tied with two-time champion Zydrunas Savickas.

Shaw beat Savickas in the final event, taking 1st place.

Shaw also won the 2011 Arnold Strongman Classic, becoming the fourth man to do so (after Mark Henry, Savickas, and Derek Poundstone).

Doing so, he became the first man to win both the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man in the same year.

However, in March 2012, at the 2012 Arnold Strongman Classic, Shaw suffered a left distal biceps tendon rupture in the first event, the Apollon Wheel,.

While he finished the event, he only finished 4th overall, missing out on a podium finish.

This injury affected Shaw's performance in the 2012 World's Strongest Man Competition, resulting in him falling out of the podium for the first time since 2009.