Bruce Wilhelm

Bruce Wilhelm, born on 13 July 1945 in Sunnyvale, California, is a former American weightlifter and strongman. He won the inaugural World's Strongest Man contest in 1977 and won it again in 1978, and afterwards helped organize and officiate later contests. Earlier he was a high school track and field star who took the 1963 California state shot put title, then competed in shot, discus and wrestling at Stanford and Oklahoma State. He was the US national AAU super heavyweight weightlifting champion in 1975 and 1976, won silver in the +110 kg class at the 1975 Pan American Games in Mexico City, and placed fifth at the 1976 Olympic Games in Montreal. He later served on the United States Olympic Committee executive board and wrote books and articles on strength training.