Travis Ortmayer - Strength Sports

Strength Sports

Ortmayer started out training Bodybuilding in his early teens and eventually decided to train and compete in Powerlifting. Ortmayer then 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 hisAmerican 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 Sao Paulo, Brazil as a qualifier for the 2005 IFSA Strongman World Championships. 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. 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 ultimately placed 10th overall in the World Championships.

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. His performance however earned him an invite by strength sport historian Terry Todd to compete in his contest, the Arnold Strongman Classic Classic contest, 2007, in Columbus, Ohio. Ortmayer also qualified to compete in the 2006 IFSA World Championship being held in Reykjavík, Iceland.

Ortmayer attained a shoulder injury and a thyroid problem, and lost 25 lbs. Ortmayer 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 Zydrunas Savickas. Ortmayer placed 10th overall.

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 placed 10th overall.

Ortmayer then went on to compete in the 2007 Fresno Pro-Am (USA National Championship Qualifier). Ortmayer 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, Pennsylvania, USA 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, (Zydrunas 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 place 2nd overall.

Ortmayer competed in the 2007 IFSA Strongamn World Championships in Geumsan, South Korea. The qualifying heats consisted of 4 events and the top 2 from each heat of 4 athletes would go onto the finals. Ortmayer finished 3rd overall in his heat and failed to qualify for the finals.

Ortmayer and his father Roger Ortmayer opened up the elite personal training gym Athletic Nation during early 2007. Ortmayer worked the microphone at the Arnold Strongman contest in March 2008. Ortmayer married Lucy Ashton on 3/8/2008 at his home in Cypress, Texas.

Ortmayer took some time during late 2007 to let his body recover and to build up base strength levels. He achieved his goal of an 800 lb deadlift on December 1, 2007 in a powerlifting meet. Since then he has gone on to win every contest he's competed in to date, March 15, 2008. In doing so, he has qualified for the World's Strongest Man Super Series 2008 and America's Strongest Man 2008. Ortmayer was invited to compete in the Fortissimus - Decathlon of Strength competition held in Canada the last weekend of June.

Ortmayer competed in the Strongman Champions League 2008 Latvia contest and finished a close second behind Zydrunas Savickas. He beat out champion competitors like Mikhail Koklyaev, Andrus Murumets, and Oleksandr Pekanov.

On April 2, 2008 Ortmayer signed on to compete against Derek Poundstone at the Madison Square Garden Super Series on June 21, 2008. Ortmayer won the Madison Square Garden Super Series by defeating Derek Poundstone into second place.

Ortmayer competed in the 2008 World's Strongest Man competition, his first time in the contest. During the qualifiers, Ortmayer took first overall in his qualifying group. Ortmayer still finished in fifth place overall in the finals. Ortmayer would go on to finish 5th at both the 2009 World's Strongest Man and 2010 World's Strongest Man contests in the finals. Ortmayer suffered an injury during the qualifying heats of the 2011 World's Strongest Man contest and was forced to withdraw from the contest and did not make the finals.