Oli Thompson - Strongman Career

Strongman Career

Thompson's first competition was the 2001 UK's Strongest Man qualifier. Although he did not qualify, he gained experience and remained focussed on only competing in professional level events. In 2002 he won Kent's Strongest Man, taking first place in 5 out of 6 events. He went on to qualify in 2003 for Britain's Strongest Man ("BSM"), and in 2004 surpassed all expectations when he came third. This earned him the right to compete alongside the top strength athletes in the world at the Moscow Super Series 2004 (known as the 2004 Russia Grand Prix, although in 2004 this was not part of the WSM Super Series and again later in the year at Europe's Strongest Man in Poland.

In 2005 he opted to compete in the IFSA British Championships which was set up in direct rivalry with the BSM after IFSA parted company with the BSM and World's Strongest Man competition organiser TWI. He finished second in that competition to Mark Felix. Like many British strongmen he returned to the TWI British circuit in 2006 and won Britain's Strongest Man that year. He also competed in the 2006 IFSA World Championship where he made the final and came 8th. Disaster struck in February 2007, whilst he was training for the Mohegan Sun Super Series. He was deadlifting and he tore his biceps. Reportedly, he said that it did not hurt. He went on to say "No, there are no nerves in there, it didn’t hurt. I just heard it snap and I was just aware of it. You can feel it come up, but there’s no pain." Although the biceps was repaired Thompson has reported that it feels different and that "it’s just not quite as smooth." Although he has said that he does not think it will ever be the same, he has also said that: "When I get to a competition, I won’t be holding back because of my arm. I’ve already won Britain’s Strongest Man - you don’t want to go down - you’ve got to try and win Britain’s Strongest Man again or it’s pointless. So I’ve got to win it really. That’ll be how I judge where I go from there - if I win it or not. Second place isn’t something I’ll be chuffed with." Thompson trained intensively with training partner Scott Reid, the 2007 Britain’s Strongest Man in the 105 kg weight class. He went on to qualify for the finals of Britain's Strongest Man in 2008 and won his heat in the process. However, the injury was too proximate for him to fully challenge for the title in a field that was widely reported to have been one of the strongest ever.

Thompson had been closely associated with IFSA in the past but states that he always did what he wanted to do. Prior to the BSM 2008 he stated that "If I don’t qualify for Britain’s Strongest Man I may well end up doing the IFSA World Championships.".

As well as Thompson's successful British finals, he also won the South England Strongest Man title three times (2003, 2004 and 2006) and Sussex Strongest Man on three consecutive occasions from 2003 to 2005. He has also competed in a number of Grand Prix events in Dubai, Latvia, Hungary. Thompson, who is 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) tall and weighs 20st, is now in training for the world title in Helsinki in November. He is following in the footsteps of former British and Olympic shot-put champion Geoff Capes who twice won the world strongman title.