Lars Hedlund

Lars Hedlund was a Swedish strongman and powerlifter, born on 24 January 1949 and died on 4 June 2016. He competed in three World Strongest Man contests, finishing third in 1978 and second in both 1979 and 1980, and he won Europe Strongest Man in 1981. As a powerlifter he was Scandinavian champion in 1979 and European champion in 1980, and he competed twice at the IPF World Powerlifting Championships, placing sixth in 1977 and third in 1979. He set numerous bench press world records, the best a raw 285 kg in Copenhagen in 1980, and his best squat was 380 kg in single ply equipment at the 1979 IPF World Championships. His record bench of 278 kg in 1979 stood until Bill Kazmaier surpassed it.