Quebec Archives - www.oldtimestrongman.com

Paul Baillargeon

Posted on Wednesday, October 25th, 2017 by John Wood

I have said many times that Arthur Saxon’s records would never be broken… and they won’t be… but the man who has come the closest was Paul Baillargeon of the famed Baillargeon Brothers of Quebec. These six brothers were all incredible wrestlers and strength athletes who toured their native Canada and the US taking on all comers.

Paul, shown here, who was quite possibly the strongest of the brothers, often lifted a horse as the finale of their strength performances. This picture shows him officially bent-pressing a barbell loaded to 321 pounds, a feat which he achieved on May 11, 1951, in front of Harry B. Paschall and other reliable witnesses at the Apollo Health Studio in Columbus, Ohio.

Paul Baillargeon actually did succeed in bent-pressing 375 pounds in practice a few times but never under official conditions.

Victor DeLamarre’s Backlift

Posted on Tuesday, October 3rd, 2017 by John Wood

In October, 1928, Victor DeLamarre performed a backlift of an entire precinct of Quebec policemen. The captain, Emile Trudel, stands in the foreground. Interestingly, DeLamarre only weighed about 200 pounds at the time. It was said that one of the reasons for DeLamarre’s great strength was that he had thicker than average tendons and bones.

Gaston Heon

Posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2014 by John Wood

There has been a long tradition of Canadian Strongmen, one that you probably haven’t heard of is Gaston Heon of Quebec. Heon performed standard feats such as phone book tearing, the human link and having a large rock broken on his chest with a sledge hammer… but he also performed several unusual — and somewhat dangerous — feats, such as allowing himself to be run over by a car traveling 40 miles per hour(!) and this backlift/support of a 3000 pound automobile.