PHOTO: Bildbyrån + Instagram
Magnus Samuelsson is a powerhouse of a rarely seen kind.
Now it is revealed how the legend became the world’s strongest man.
With the help of his own mother and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
The farmer’s son Magnus Samuelsson grew up in Östgötska Tidersrum and was first interested in hunting, shooting, motor sports and athletics. But that would then change completely during the teenage years when muscle building took over and would take him to unimagined heights.
Mother’s gift
Already at the age of sixteen, Samuelsson caught the eye of his brother Torbjörn’s home gym, which he received as a gift from his grandmother. The year was 1985 and just ten years later he would become Sweden’s strongest man and then conquer the world.
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Growing up, training was interspersed with everything that needed to be done on the farm before a decisive stroke of genius by his own mother Inger would change everything. She gave her son an exercise book of her own Arnold Schwarzenegger and it became a great inspiration for Magnus, who started training six days a week.
READ MORE: The new picture of the world’s strongest man Magnus Samuelsson – which everyone raves about: “You are brutal”
Strongest in the world
But he lacked a clear goal with his training and a worthy task for his muscles. When a new person came into his life and steered him in the right direction.
– By this time I had trained intensively for ten years alongside hard work on the farm. In this vein, I also met my wife Kristin and it was probably she who gave me the final push into a new sport. I had competed quite a bit in various strength sports, including an EC gold medal in arm wrestling, but mostly for fun. During a weekend in Skara, she signed me up for Sweden’s Strongest Man, which was to be held at Skara Sommarland. I won that competition and it would turn out to be my ticket to the opportunity to compete internationally. The challenges in Skara were ground lifting, bending iron, overturning a car and pulling a truck, says Samuelsson in an interview with the magazine Hus & Livsstil.
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It was the start of such a successful career in the sport of strongman. During the years 1995-2008, the Swede reached a total of 10 WC finals in the “World’s Strongest Man” competitions. The big highlight was of course in 1998 when he went and won the entire competition and got to title himself the strongest man on the planet.
– I am very grateful for my career as a strongman. It lasted 14 years and I probably competed on average every three/four weeks. In this sport, most people have to settle for a significantly shorter career and be happy if they compete 3-4 times a year. The competition has also been valuable for me, even in a private way. It has taken me almost everywhere. I have competed or worked in 57 countries, he says in the interview.
READ MORE: 52-year-old badass Magnus Samuelsson now reveals – how much he trains today: “It’s a love-hate…”
Another unforgettable memory from his career was when he made his debut in the World’s Strongest Man in 1995. And went up against the bastard Nathan Jones in arm wrestling.
– I get to break against the Australian Nathan Jones – a giant, much bigger than me, who went by the name “The Megaman”. We broke in best of three, first match I hold him until he pulls out of the corners and then break him down. In game two, the same thing actually happens, although this time his arm breaks off. After this, everyone knew who I was. I win the next exercise and reach the final at WSM 95. Once there, I didn’t make it all the way, but I now understood what I wanted with my life, the powerhouse told the newspaper.
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This is what he looks like today: