Jimmy Laureys

Jimmy Laureys is a Belgian powerlifter and strongman competitor, born on 7 July 1981. Known as King Kong at school because of his size, he began training at fifteen, took up powerlifting at seventeen and turned to strength athletics at twenty three. After concentrating on powerlifting until 2005 he became a regular on the Benelux strongman circuit, where his nickname became the Belgian Beast, and he was named Belgium's Strongest Man in 2008 and 2009. He competed in the Strongman Champions League, finishing third in its Spanish leg in 2009, and that year became the first Belgian invited to the World's Strongest Man, although he did not reach the final. He holds the record for most Belgium's Strongest Man wins, with six.