Geoff Capes, two-time World’s Strongest Man, shot-put record holder and renowned budgerigar breeder, has died aged 75, his family said on Wednesday.
Capes left an indelible mark on British sport, birdkeeping and 1980s popular culture.
Standing 197cm tall and weighing 170kg at his peak, Capes won the World’s Strongest Man titles in 1983 and 1985.
Known for feats of immense strength, Capes was a household name in Britain in the 1980s, admired for his ability to tear phone books and bend steel bars with ease.
Geoff Capes set numerous records in strongman feats in his career. (Getty Images: PA Images)
“The family of Geoffrey Capes would like to announce his sad passing today, 23rd October. Britain’s finest shot-putter and twice World’s Strongest Man,” they said in a statement.
Born in 1949 in Holbeach, Lincolnshire, Capes excelled in athletics, representing Britain in three Olympic Games from 1972 to 1980.
His British record of 21.68 metres has stood for 44 years.
“British Athletics are saddened to hear the news of former British shot-putter, Geoff Capes’s passing,” British Athletics said in a statement.
Geoff Capes achieved a fifth-place finish at the Moscow Games of 1980. (Getty Images: PA Images/S&G)
“Our condolences go out to his family and friends at this time.”
Tessa Sanderson, the Olympic javelin champion in 1984, told the BBC Capes was a “great person and a giant of an athlete”.
Although his best Olympic finish was fifth in 1980, he won two Commonwealth gold medals in 1974 and 1978 as well as a haul of European medals.
Capes worked as a policeman and had the perhaps unlikely hobby of being a dedicated budgerigar enthusiast.
A world-class breeder, in 2008 Capes was appointed president of the Budgerigar Society and his expertise saw him regularly featured in specialist publications.
It was for his strongman exploits that Capes was best known though, maintaining a strong presence in British pop culture, featuring in commercials, one in which he memorably rolled a car over with his bare hands.
His TV appearances ranged from the children’s show Blue Peter, where he competed against fellow strongmen, to the quirky 1980s series Supergran.
Reuters/ABC
