Travis Ortmayer

Travis Ortmayer (born August 9, 1981) is an American professional Strongman athlete from Cypress, Texas.

He is nicknamed the Texas Stoneman due to his many world records in the Atlas Stone event.

Ortmayer's strongman training complex is called "The Unit".

His father, Roger Ortmayer, trains with him.

He is supported by his mother, Sonja Ortmayer and his sister, Tara Ortmayer.

Travis Ortmayer was born in Lake Tahoe, Nevada.

Ortmayer started out training in bodybuilding in his early teens and eventually decided to train and compete in powerlifting.

He met Marshall White, who introduced him to the Strongman sport.

In 2002, Marshall and Ortmayer formed "the Unit" strongman training grounds in Cypress, Texas.

"The Unit" was also joined by World's Strongest Man competitor Josh Thigpen and professional strongman Jim Glassman.

Ortmayer earned his American Strongman Corporation (ASC) Professional Strongman card by winning the 2004 NAS US Amateur National Championships.

The International Federation of Strength Athletes (IFSA) split from the TWI (Trans World International) World's Strongest Man (WSM) contest in 2005.

IFSA held the first and only Pan-American Championship in 2005 at São Paulo, Brazil, as a qualifier for the 2005 IFSA Strongman World Championships.

His placement qualified him to compete in the inaugural 2005 IFSA Strongman World Championships being held in Quebec City, Canada.

During the World Championship, Ortmayer set another World Record in the Atlas Stones, this time with the Heavy Set.

Ortmayer competed in this qualifier and placed 2nd overall behind 2006 WSM winner Phil Pfister.

Ortmayer also set a World Record for the Atlas Stones: Light Set strength event.

In 2006 Ortmayer eventually won his first international competition in Cyprus at the IFSA Cyprus Grand Prix.

This was one week after attaining a pectoralis injury at the 2006 World Strongman Challenge in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

Ortmayer went on to win all three National Championship Qualifiers.

At the 2006 America's Strongest Man, Ortmayer was 1.5 points away from victory, but took home 3rd place overall.

Ortmayer also qualified to compete in the 2006 IFSA World Championship being held in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Ortmayer suffered a shoulder injury, and lost 25 lbs.

He competed in the 2006 IFSA World Championships.

He maintained his Atlas Stone: Light Set world record, but lost his Heavy Set world record to the 2006 Champion Žydrūnas Savickas.

His performance, however, earned him an invite by strength sport historian Terry Todd to compete in his contest, the Arnold Strongman Classic contest, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio.

Ortmayer then went on to compete in the exclusive 2007 Arnold Strongman Classic competition.

During the Timber Frame Carry, he injured his right foot; the timber frame dropped on his foot when his heel made contact with the apparatus.

During the Hummer Tire Deadlift, Ortmayer also injured his back, and was waived out of the competition by the attending doctor.

Ortmayer did come back to compete in the final event, the Circus Dumbbell press, but was unable to complete the event due to his previous injuries.

Ortmayer went on to compete in the 2007 Fresno Pro-Am (USA National Championship Qualifier).

He won this contest, which qualified him to compete in the 2007 America's Strongest Man (USA National Championship).

During the USA National Championship, Ortmayer re-injured his back on the second event, the Tire Deadlift, and pulled out of the competition.

Ortmayer has since gone on to compete in two team contests.

The USA vs. World contest put on by Al Thompson in June 2007 in Philadelphia, US, was his first.

Ortmayer and his team (Derek Poundstone, Van Hatfield, Nick Best and Walt Gogola) pulled out a victory against the three of the top five European strongmen in the World, (Žydrūnas Savickas, Vasyl Virastyuk and Andrus Murumets. The contest was a tie going into the final event, the Atlas Stones. Team USA pulled out a victory in Ortmayer's signature event to capture the win overall. His next team contest was the World's Strongest Nation, held in Ukraine in August 2007. This time Team USA consisted of Ortmayer along with Derek Poundstone, Tom McClure and Brian Shaw. Team USA placed 2nd overall.

Ortmayer competed in the 2007 IFSA Strongamn World Championships in Geumsan, South Korea.

Ortmayer ultimately placed 10th overall in the World Championships.

Ortmayer placed 10th overall.

He placed 10th overall.