Noel le Gaulois Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

The Roubaix Athletic Club, 1906

Posted on Thursday, January 25th, 2018 by John Wood

A look at the Roubaix Athletic club in Northern France, circa 1906. This club had an excellent assortment of globe dumbbells and an equally excellent assortment of strongman posters on the walls — look closely, you’ll find The Rasso Trio, Apollon, Sampson and Cyclops, John Grunn Marx and Batta. A number of famous “names” trained there, including Jules Parent, Athleta, Noel Le Gaulois, Pierre Bonnes, Batta, Charles Poire, Felix Bernard and Constant le Bouche.

Noel le Gaulois

Posted on Thursday, March 29th, 2012 by John Wood

Noel le Gaulois

The French strongman Noel le Gaulois was the man to beat at certain lifts in the late 19th century. He won the world’s championship in Brussels, Belgium in 1897, with a two-arm snatch with 220 pounds, a two-arm jerk of 253-pounds and a one-arm snatch of a 143-pounds… All lifts which would still be respectable a century later.

Like many strongmen of the period, he was also a very good wrestler. Later, Le Gaulois owned a café/gymnasium which was the gathering place for the famous strongmen of the day. Also, so you know, “le Gaulois” was not his actual last name but a nickname The Gaul, which referred to his outstanding mustache.