BOOM! POW! BOOM! That’s pretty much the only way I could verbalize my instant thoughts when I first saw this Australian weightlifter. His name is Damon Kelly and when I quickly did some thorough research (lol), I noticed that for a weightlifter, he’s quite stylish, to the point that I might even call him a “hipster” (or “bipster” for “bear hipster”). Let me lay out the evidence, and you be the judge… [KEEP ON WOOFIN’!]
I have seen this unbelievably handsome brute everywhere on the internet, but I have no clue as to who he is. The only information I have is that this mystery musclebear was photographed by Mr. Udo Mölzer (good job, Sherlock!). Anyway, I just signed up with Facebook just so I could ask him about this mystery strongbear only to realize that his email address was on his main website. My brain stops functioning when it comes to these gosh-darn cute bears…
Does anyone know who he is?
Strongman and musclebrute expert, Rich, shared that video clip of the woofy Shane Hamman from the 2004 Olympics in Athens in the Real_Thick Yahoo Group. In the video, Mr. Hamman was about to snatch the weights when something enormous got in the way. Shane then gave a disappointed look, but little did he know, his musclebear fans just dreamily sighed a collective OMG.
Most of the following photos are from his MySpace Page.
[Related Posts – Shane Hamman]
Thanks to good buddy, BigNHusky, we now know who that massive, massive powerlifting musclechub: PatrioticHighlander from YouTube (real name is Ernie Beath). In his YouTube page, he said that he’s in the process of writing a strength book. Wow. A powerlifter and a writer. Awesome combination.
Here are two videos where we get to see Mr. Ernie Beath doing lifts while shirtless. Unbelievably. Spectacular…
This is the video where someone got that awesome
screenshot I posted…
The Tight Tan Slacks Of Dezso Ban is one of the best blog titles I have ever come across. I have no idea what it means, but it’s a blog where the author would reproduce classic weightlifting articles as well as scan their accompanying photos. Since I’m not a weightlifter by any means, I only visited it for the photos and not the articles. Yes, as I’ve said it before, I’m very shallow. Actually, I only stumbled upon the blog because I was researching for more photos of Steve Merjanian (who will be my next post after this) for a good friend, JimJimBear.
After perusing through the archives, here are just some of my favorite ones…
No clue again *sighs*
The following photos are of Bruce Randall’s. I have previously posted about him here.
Russian Weightlifters, Vasily Alexeev and Leonid Zhabotinsky
Vasily Alexeev is quite possibly one of the most famous Olympic Weightlifter of all-time. He made his mark in 1972 and is now an easily recognized and iconic sports personality. Researching more about the history of weightlifting, I have pleasantly learned about a handsome bear of a man who also happened to be the previous Olympic Weightlifting gold medalist: another fellow Russian by the name of Leonid Zhabotinsky.
Leonid Zhabotinsky (also endearingly referred to as “Big Zhabo”) possessed that cherubic looks that he seemed more huggable than intimidating. A true teddy bear, if one was to make an apt analogy. At 6’5″ and 350 pounds, he was considered a towering, muscular giant in the world of Super Heavyweight Olympic Weightlifting. And even in his later years, he maintained his youthful appearance.
Thank you to Lift Up and Visualrian for all of the Leonid Zhabotinsky photo archives.
I’ve been looking for this commercial for a while and it’s been in YouTube all along. It’s Shane Hamman in an Allstate commercial…
And here is Mr. Hamman performing an impressive high jump…
[Related Posts – Shane Hamman]
1996. Is that even considered a “classic”? Anyway, Andrei Chemerkin (1996 Olympic Weightlifting Champion) was a massive Russian weightlifter that I had a major crush on. The photo above is quite possibly a popular and an iconic image, especially to his fans.
I tried to upload the video of the screenshots from the left but it was so blurry that it’s
not even worth it. The screenshots look somewhat clear as I had to “doctor” them.
I’m not really sure what he’s doing now, so any info would be appreciated. And here are just some photos that I have collected or was shared with me from the past
[EDIT: I just learned that these photos came from the Andrei Chemerkin Unofficial Website. Visit it now as it has tons of photos of the spectacular Andrei Chemerkin.]
The following collage was from FilmBear’s Andrei Chemerkin’s Fan Page. As an added note, FilmBear also had fansites for John Goodman and Abraham Benrubi (but I can’t seem to access them, and if I could, I could not access the contents).
I’m begging for assistance… Not only do these videos from NBCOlympics.com can only be viewed by U.S. residents, they are also impossible to download. I don’t believe that. There has to be a way. Unfortunately, I’m not clever enough to figure it out which is why I’m asking for your help.
Anyway, these are some short interviews with Shane Hamman and Casey Burgener. And if I’m able to download them, I’ll update this post and put the videos in here.
SHANE HAMMAN: Behind The Scenes
Shane Hamman describes the competition format and some of the backstage workings of weightlifting.
SHANE HAMMAN: U.S. Women’s Outlook
Shane Hamman introduces us to the four female lifters who will be representing the U.S. in Beijing.
CASEY BURGENER: America’s Strongest Man
Super-heavyweight Casey Burgener talks about his start in weightlifting and what makes him lift the bar higher.
[Related Posts – Casey Burgener]
[Related Posts – Shane Hamman]
