Geoff Capes, the former world’s strongest man and still the British shot put record holder, has died at the age of 75.
A family statement said: “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.”
Born in Lincolnshire in 1949, Capes was the seventh of nine children and rose from an impoverished background to become one of the most famous and recognisable faces in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s.
As an athlete, he was a multiple British, Commonwealth and European champion at the shot put, an event in which he set a national record of 21.68m in 1980 which still stands to this day.
It made him one of the favourites for the Olympic title in Moscow in 1980 but, having finished eighth after a sixth place finish at the Montreal Games four years earlier, he focused on the world of strongman.
He finished in the top three on six separate occasions, peaking with victory in 1983 and 1985, and was also a winner of the World Highland Games on six occasions.
In retirement, Capes became a coach of numerous successful shot putters and also won a world title for breeding budgerigars.
His children, Lewis and Emma, were also national shot put champions and the family tradition is currently being continued by grandchildren Donovan and Lawson.
In what was his last interview, with the Telegraph last year, Capes said: “There were stronger people out there – I met a lot of them in the fens of Lincolnshire. But it was about the application of strength. Can you apply it at speed? Can you run with 400 pounds?
“I basically did that on a farm when I was a kid with sacks of potatoes. And I worked things out technically. They would call me ‘numbers’. If I went first, you’d see everyone copying. No matter what it was, I wanted to win.”
