1978 - The Second "World's Strongest Man Competition"

In my last article, I wrote about the first World’s Strongest Man contest in 1977. Olympic weightlifter Bruce Wilhelm easily won the competition and returned in 1978 to defend his title. The total number of competitors increased from eight in 1977 to ten in 1978, but Wilhelm was the only one returning from the previous year.

While last year’s competition had only one non-American participant, this year had three. The ten events remained the same, and the venue remained the same, Universal Tour Center in Hollywood.

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The Competitors

Bruce Wilhelm — The defending champion. Bruce Wilhelm was the national weightlifting champion in the superheavyweight division in 1975 and 1976 and was voted America’s best weightlifter in 1977, and Bruce also placed 5th at the 1976 Olympics. The 326-pound 32-year-old Wilhelm was a former shot putter and the first American lifter to snatch 400 lbs.

Don Reinhoudt — The 33-year-old Reinhoudt was the heaviest competitor, standing 6’3″ and weighing 344 lbs. Big Don was a four-time world champion in powerlifting from 1973–1976. Reinhoudt set forty powerlifting records during his career and was a great all-around athlete in school, excelling in basketball, football, and the shot put. At one point during his powerlifting career, Don held the world record in the squat, deadlift, bench press, and total simultaneously.

Lars Hedlund — The 29-year-old from Sweden weighed in at 313 lbs. Hedlund finished third at the 1979 World Powerlifting Championships, second at the 1979 European Championships, and first at the 1980 European Championships. Lars set numerous bench press world records throughout his powerlifting career.

Gus Rethwisch — The 31-year-old powerlifter tipped the scales at 324 lbs. Gus placed second at the 1977 USA Nationals, 3rd at the 1978 Nationals, and 1st at the 1980 Nationals. Gus was one of the few men during the 1970s to have squatted 900 lbs in competition.

John Matuszak — The 28-year-old NFL defensive end was somewhat of an odd choice for this competition. Unlike fellow NFL star Bob Young who competed in 1977, “Tooz” was not known for doing a lot of weightlifting or powerlifting, although he was a state shot put champion in high school. Matuszak played in the NFL from 1973 to 1982 and was a two-time Superbowl champion. The 6′ 8″ “Tooz” typically played at about 280 lbs but put on about 30 lbs for this competition.

Jon Kolb — The 31-year-old 262-pound Kolb had a reputation for being one of the strongest players in the NFL, and he proved it by winning the strongest man in football competition at age 34. Kolb played offensive tackle for the Steelers for 13 seasons and was named first-team All-Pro in 1979. Jon was later a strength and conditioning coach for the Steelers.

Ivan Putski — The 5’10” 248-pound Putski (real name Józef Bednarski) was the oldest competitor at 37 yrs old. Putski, from Poland, was a professional wrestler who also competed in bodybuilding and powerlifting.

Jack Wright — The 240-pound wrist wrestler/arm wrestler was only 21 yrs old. Wright did it all, from college football to stuntman to wrestling bears. Wright also did feats of strength and is reported to have done a raw 555-pound bench press.

Brian Oldfield — The 33-year-old 6’5″ 248-pound Oldfield placed sixth for Team USA at the 1972 Olympics and set numerous world records in the shot put. However, many of them were discounted because he joined a professional track & field organization. In 1984, at age 38, he broke the official amateur world record with a throw of 72 feet and nine inches. Oldfield also competed in the Scottish Highland games and the Superstars competition, where he easily won the weightlifting competition and placed second in the 100-yard dash with a time of 10.4 seconds.

Boris Djerassi — The 26-year-old 248-pound Djerassi was a hammer thrower from Israel who moved to the US in the 1970s and qualified for the 1980 USA Olympic team but did not get to compete due to the boycott. He placed first at the AAU Championships in 1975 and again in 1978, and he placed second in 1979.

The Events

The Barrel Lift

Don Reinhoudt won this event, lifting a 270-pound barrel from the ground to overhead. Boris Djerassi tied Bruce Wilhelm for second place despite weighing considerably less than Reinhoudt and Wilhelm. Gus Rethwisch took third.

The Steel Bar Bend

This event is always a crowd-pleaser; the contestants gave it their all. Wilhelm and Lars Hedlund tied for first, followed by Reinhoudt and Jon Kolb.

The Girl Lift/Squat

Don Reinhoudt won his second event here, followed by Wilhelm, Rethwisch, and Djerassi, who all tied for second place.

The Wrist Roll

Jon Kolb easily won this event, finishing with a fantastic time of just 18.7 seconds. Lars Hedlund finished second, and pro wrestler Ivan “Polish Power” Putski finished third place.

The Wheelbarrow Race

The wheelbarrow was loaded up with 750 lbs of weight. Wilhelm emerged as the victor. Rethwisch finished in second place, followed by NFL lineman Jon Kolb. Ivan Putski pulled a calf muscle in this event, which affected his performance for the rest of the competition.

The Tire Toss

Hammer thrower Boris Djerassi was the heavy favorite in this event, but throwing a tire isn’t the same as throwing a hammer and Boris finished a disappointing fourth. Shot putter Brian Oldfield won this event and was followed by Reinhoudt and Wilhelm.

The Car Lift

This was another fan favorite. The first car lifted was Jack Benny’s old Maxwell. The following car used was the car Paul Newman used in the movie “The Sting.” The final vehicle lifted was used by Peter Falk in the tv show “Columbo.” Don Reinhoudt won his third first-place finish in this event, followed by Wilhelm in second place.

The Tram Pull

The weight of the tram car was an astounding 9,600 lbs, and the competitors had to pull it 100 feet. Reinhoudt took another first-place finish, and it was starting to look like he might take the crown away from defending champion Bruce Wilhelm who finished second in this event. Lars Hedlund came in third.

The Refrigerator Race

The big Swede, Lars Hedlund, won this event, carrying the 420-pound fridge 100 feet in just 13.4 seconds. Reinhoudt did not do well in this event, so the pressure was on Wilhelm to come through, and he did, finishing in second place. Jon Kolb qualified for the tug-of-war by finishing third in this event.

The Tug-of-War

It came down to the final four. Reinhoudt easily defeated Kolb, as was expected, given that he outweighed his opponent by 83 pounds. Lars Hedlund gave Wilhelm a scare as he almost beat the defending champ, but after one full minute of all-out effort, Wilhelm came out the victor. But now the question was whether or not big Bruce had anything left in the tank to defeat Reinhoudt, who outweighed Wilhelm by 17 pounds. The 1976 Olympian rose to the occasion and beat Reinhoudt to win his second “World’s Strongest Man” contest.

Final Results

1-Bruce Wilhelm- 64 points
2-Don Reinhoudt- 58 points
3-Lars Hedlund- 39 points
4-Jon Kolb- 23 points
5-Gus Rethwisch- 17 points
6-Boris Djerassi- 15 points
7-Brian Oldfield- 13 points
8-Ivan Putski- 6 points
9- John Matuszak- 5 points
10- Jack Wright- 0 points

Mark Morthier is the host of Yesterday’s Sports, a podcast dedicated to reliving memorable sports moments from his childhood days and beyond. He grew up in New Jersey just across from New York City, so many of his episodes revolve around the great sport’s teams of the 70s for the New York area.

He is also an author of No Nonsense, Old School Weight Training (Second Edition): A Guide for People with Limited Time and Running Wild: (Growing Up in the 1970s)