George Lurich Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Paul Belling

Posted on Tuesday, June 15th, 2021 by John Wood

Paul Belling was billed as the national champion wrestler of Austria in the late 1800’s. He scrapped with the best of them including: Alex Aberg, George Lurich, Ursus Jankowsky, Stan Zbyszko, Ivan Poddubny, John Pohl, Tom Cannon, George Hackenschmidt, Magnus Bech-Olsen, Jess Pedersen, and Franz “Cyclops” Bienkowski. When his competitive career came to a close Belling took his winnings and opened a cafe on the west end of London (which was eventually raided for being an illegal casino.)

Viktor Solovyev

Posted on Monday, January 1st, 2018 by John Wood

Viktor Solovyev, the great Ukranian strongman and wrestler, is shown here looking quite impressive in this rare picture take around 1906. As far as his lifting feats, he was able to ‘slow curl’ 165 pounds, perform a Crucifix Lift with 60 pounds in each hand and could jerk 293 pounds. As a wrestler, he defeated Franz ‘Cyclops’ Bienkowski, the French Giant Louis ‘Apollon’ Uni, George Lurich, Pyotr Krylov and many others on the way to winning several world championships.

Dr. Vladislav Von Krajewski

Posted on Sunday, October 22nd, 2017 by John Wood

Dr. Vladislav Von Krajewski was one of the leading physical training of the day, the founder of the St. Petersburg Athletic and Cycling Club and personal physician to the Czar of Russia. The good doctor’s interest in physical training was as a method of securing and preserving health, strength, activity and vigor (both mental and physical). He created a system of training around these goals, and it was the reason behind the success of many of the strongest men who ever lived. Some of Dr. Von Krajewski’s most famous pupils included George Hackenschmidt, George Lurich, and Ivan Poddubny.

Raymond Cazeaux

Posted on Thursday, October 19th, 2017 by John Wood

Born into a family of farmers in the Ossau Valley of Southern France in 1881, Raymond Cazeaux went on to became of the greatest French wrestlers of all time. He fought over a thousand matches, tussling with champions from all over the world, the likes of: Ed ‘Strangler’ Lewis, Constant le Marin, Stanislaus Zbyszko, George Lurich, Dr. Ben Roller, Paul Pons, Jess Petersen, Yussif Hussane, Nikola Petroff, and Ivan Poddubny. During his travels, Cazeaux would happily give free wrestling lessons to police officers wherever he went. Needless to say, he made many friends.

Cazeaux was actually not his real name, his given name was Cazeau but early in his career, a promoter thought the added “X” on the end looked better on a poster, and so it was! Cazeaux stood six feet and weighed around 220 lbs.

Rather remarkably, Cazeaux’s fame did not end a century ago, his likeness, was featured as the exotic boxer who was the namesake of Uncle Pastuzo, in the delightful 2014 children’s movie Paddington.

Lurich, The Human Link!

Posted on Thursday, January 23rd, 2014 by John Wood

Lurich The Human Link!

Of the thousands of posts that I have put up on this site, I have to say that this one is one of my absolute favorites: a rare picture of the Estonian strongman Georg Lurich performing the Human Link with a pair of ill-tempered camels!