Matjaz Belsak

Matjaz Belsak (in Slovenian Matjaž Belšak; born 23 September 1992)[1][2] is a Slovenian professional strongman competitor[3] and powerlifter.[4][5]

Matjaz Belsak
Personal information
Native nameMatjaž Belšak
Born (1992-09-23) 23 September 1992
Slovenia
Height6 ft 1 in (185 cm)
Weight335 lb (152 kg)
Sport
SportStrongman
Medal record
Representing  Slovenia
World's Strongest Man
Qualified 2015 World's Strongest Man
9th 2016 World's Strongest Man
Qualified 2017 World's Strongest Man
7th 2018 World's Strongest Man
World's Strongest Team
1st 2015 World's Strongest Team with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson
3rd 2019 World's Strongest Team with Mikhail Shilyakov
Europe's Strongest Man
5th 2015 Europe's Strongest Man
6th 2017 Europe's Strongest Man
7th 2018 Europe's Strongest Man
Arnold Strongman Classic
6th 2018
5th 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic
10th 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic
Arnold Strongman Classic Europe
4th 2016 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe
1st 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe
2nd 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe
9th 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe
Arnold Strongman Classic Canada
4th 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Canada
Qualified 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic Canada
5th 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic Canada
Arnold Strongman Classic - Other
1st 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Poland
4th 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic Australia
4th 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic Los Angeles
2nd 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic Australia
4th 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic Brasil
8th 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic Africa
World's Ultimate Strongman
9th Beasts of the Middle East 2019
Giants Live
4th 2018 Giants Live
Strongman Champions League
5th 2013 SCL FIBO Germany
3rd 2014 SCL Hungary
4th 2015 SCL Bulgaria
4th 2015 SCL Croatia
7th 2015 SCL Poland
3rd 2015 SCL Austria
3rd 2015 SCL Lithuania
3rd 2015 SCL Martinique
5th 2015 SCL FINALS - Turkey
2nd 2016 SCL FIBO Germany
7th 2016 SCL Latvia
3rd 2016 SCL Serbia
2nd 2016 SCL Bulgaria
4th 2016 SCL Portugal
3rd 2016 SCL FINALS - Dubai
1st 2017 SCL FIBO Germany
1st 2017 SCL Holand
1st 2017 SCL Serbia
1st 2017 SCL Finland
1st 2017 SCL FINALS - Mexico
1st 2018 SCL Abu Dhabi
1st 2018 SCL Finland
1st 2018 SCL Serbia
Slovenia's Strongest Man
1st 2014 Slovenia's Strongest Man
1st 2015 Slovenia's Strongest Man
1st 2018 Slovenia's Strongest Man
1st 2019 Slovenia's Strongest Man

Biography

Early life

Matjaž Belšak was born in a village Seničica,[6] near Ljubljana, the capital of Slovenia[1] on September 23 of 1992.[1][7][2] He grew up in a family of cooks; his parents own a restaurant "Gostilna Belšak"[8] where he still occasionally works as an apprentice chef.[6][2] He graduated in Tourist Studies.[9][10]

Powerlifting career

Matjaž started working out in 2008, when he was 15,[6] with a goal to become stronger. As his strength was increasing really fast, it soon became clear that he might be able to show some really decent results in couple of years. He decided to compete on his first powerlifting meet in 2010, when he was 17 years old.[11][6] During his early years of strength related sports he set quite a few Slovenian national records[6][11] in powerlifting and he even won the overall gold in GPC Slovenian Powerlifting nationals in 2010.[6] In 2012 he won his first and only international powerlifting meet (GPC), totaling 875 kg / 1929 lbs (360 kg / 793,5 lbs in squat, 190 kg / 419 lbs in bench press and 325 kg / 716,5 in deadlift).[4][5] After that competition he only focused on the sport of strongman.

Beginnings

A former Slovenian strongman and Slovenia's strongest man at that time Gregor Stegnar[9][12][2] saw the potential[12] in the young powerlifter and inspired him to try strongman for the first time in 2012,[6] offering him his mentorship.[6][13] Matjaž placed right on top and was immediately in love with the sport.[6] He started competing on better even better competitions in Slovenia and surrounding countries.

Becoming a PRO strongman

Matjaž became a PRO strongman after winning Savickas classic competition in 2015,[9][11] which enabled him to compete in the Strongman Champions League in the next season and rise his name on a whole new level, competing against some of the world's strongest men, while being just 20 years old and with that one of the youngest athletes to ever compete on this level.

Slovenia's Strongest Man

Almost immediately after starting to compete in strongman, Matjaž won the title of Slovenia's strongest man in 2014[7] and did it again in 2015[7] He keept that title until now. In 2018[13] and 2019[14][15] he, besides competing and winning, also took over the organisation of this very competition as there were not any in the years of 2016 and 2017.

Strongman Champions League
  • During the 2013–2016 seasons Matjaž did only a few competitions during his first two years of competing in the Strongman Champions League, as he was mostly focusing on becoming stronger, but he competed in a lot of SCL events in 2016 and finished the season by taking the 5th place in the finals.[16]
  • In the season of 2017 Matjaž won all of the SCL competitions he took part in and even won the final in Mexico,[17] becoming the 2017 Strongman Champion's League world champion,[18][19][2] achieving one of his biggest goals to that day,[13] as he stated in a video made a year before.[6]

World's Strongest Man

After a few successful years of competing on the international level, Matjaž was invited to compete in the World's Strongest Man.

World's Strongest Team

Europe's Strongest Man

Matjaž competed on three different Europe's Strongest Man competitions, always finishing in the top 10:

Arnold Strongman Classic

Matjaž competed on Arnold Strongman Classic events all over the world. His most important placings were:

Physical characteristics

Matjaž is 187 cm tall (6 ft 2 in)[9][2] and weights around 150 kg (330 lbs)[9][7][2] during the competitions season.

Daily life

Matjaž trains most of the time in his home gym.[6][27] He usually trains for 3–4 hours a day, besides his regular stretching and mobility routines.[6] He usually has 5 meals per day[13] and consumes between 5000 and 7000 calories daily.[13] He tries to sleep for at least 8 hours every night.[6][13]

Personal records

Best lifts:

  • Log-lift: 200 kg
  • Raw squat with wraps: 400 kg
  • Raw deadlift: 410 kg
  • Max. dumbbell lift: 141 kg
  • Dumbbell lifts for reps (in 60 seconds): 92 kg x14 reps WR (Mexico)
  • Dumbbell lifts for reps (in 60 seconds): 102 kg x 9 reps WR (Canada)
  • Atlas stones: Fibo atlas stones set 140–180 kg FIBO Record
  • Flipping 10 cars (3men): 36sec WR

Media appearances

Despite being one of the strongest people on earth, Matjaž does not get that much media attention in Slovenia.[13] However, he made a few appearances in Slovenian's most important media:

  • In 2016 he gave an interview on a popular Slovenian radio show, hosted by Denis Avdić, where he was asked to pull a truck.[40]
  • In 2018 he gave an interview for the Slovenian national television.[9]
  • In 2019 Matjaž was a special guest on an annual event of Elektro Ljubljana, one of major energy suppliers in Slovenia, where he simbolically lifted a model of a transmission tower.[41]
  • In 2020 he gave an interview during one of the most watched Slovenian news shows on Pop TV.[42]

References


  1. "Matjaž Belšak". Kingsbox. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  2. "Matjaž Belšak". World's Strongest Man. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  3. petek, Besedilo: Maja Bertoncelj Kategorija: Šport /; Marec 2018 / 14:44, 23. "Gorenjski glas | Prvič Lampičeva in Belšek". www.gorenjskiglas.si. Retrieved 10 January 2020.CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  4. "Matjaž Belšak". openpowerlifting.org. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  5. Poles, Tomáš. "Matjaž Belšak". Powerlifter.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  6. Made in Slovenia - Matjaž Belšak, retrieved 10 January 2020
  7. "Giants Live". giants-live.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  8. "Športna prehrana Flexshop, Proteini | Flexshop.com". www.flexshop.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  9. "Najmočnejši Slovenec: s pomočjo čokolina lahko premakne tudi 40-tonsko letalo". RTVSLO.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  10. Pratt, Rob (18 November 2015). "The new faces of the 2015 World's Strongest Man". World's Strongest Man. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  11. "Behind the Scenes with Slovenian Strongman Matjaz Belsak". BarBend. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  12. "FOTO: Piknik na Brniku: vrnil se je najmočnejši Slovenec Matjaž Belšak". Times.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  13. "Svet24.si - Prihaja spektakularni boj za laskavi naziv NAJMOČNEJŠEGA Slovenca!". Svet24.si - Vsa resnica na enem mestu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  14. "Večer - (FOTO in VIDEO) Matjaž Belšak je najmočnejši moški v Sloveniji". www.vecer.com (in Slovenian). 31 October 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  15. "#video V Ljubljani okronali najmočnejšega Slovenca". Dnevnik. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  16. "Results and Rankings 2016". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  17. SCL (1 December 2017). "The Strongest Man Alive – After A Perfect Season, Matjaz Belsak Is The New World Champion Of The Mlo Strongman Champions League 2017". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  18. "Results and Rankings 2017". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  19. SCL world champion 2017 Matjaz Belsak, retrieved 10 January 2020
  20. Strongman.org (20 April 2015). "World's Strongest Man 2015 - Malaysia". Strongman.org. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  21. "2015 World's Strongest Man", Wikipedia, 5 October 2017, retrieved 10 January 2020
  22. Pratt, Rob (28 December 2015). "World's Strongest Man 2015 Finalists". World's Strongest Man. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  23. "2016 World's Strongest Man", Wikipedia, 27 December 2019, retrieved 10 January 2020
  24. "See the results for the Commerce World's Strongest Man 2016 elite fitness event on FloElite.com". www.floelite.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  25. "2017 World's Strongest Man", Wikipedia, 17 December 2019, retrieved 10 January 2020
  26. "2018 World's Strongest Man", Wikipedia, 28 December 2019, retrieved 10 January 2020
  27. "Svet24.si - Slovenec sedmi najmočnejši Zemljan". Svet24.si - Vsa resnica na enem mestu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  28. Strongman.org (6 May 2018). "World's Strongest Man 2018 Final (Results)". Strongman.org. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  29. Triana, Andrew. "Huge Weekend For Strongman: World Records Fall and One Team Rises". elitefts. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  30. "Ultimate Strongman » Team World Championship 2019 Results". Retrieved 10 January 2020.
  31. "See the results for the Europe's Strongest Man + World Deadlift Championships 2015 elite fitness event on FloElite.com". www.floelite.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  32. "Europe's Strongest Man 2017 Recap". www.floelite.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  33. "Giants Live". giants-live.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  34. "Giants Live". giants-live.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  35. "2018 Arnold Strongman Classic". Rogue Fitness. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  36. "Arnold Pro Strongman Arnold Sports Festival". www.arnoldsportsfestival.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  37. G, B. (3 March 2019). "Matjaž Belšak odličen peti na tekmovanju najmočnejših zemljanov". Gorenjski Utrip (in Slovenian). Retrieved 14 January 2020.
  38. "Matjaž Belšak - Arnold Classic Europe and SCL 2018 Winner,". Matjaž Belšak Strongman. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  39. "2018 Arnold Strongman Europe Results". Starting Strongman. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
  40. Matjaž Belšak premaknil tovornjak pred studiem Radia 1, retrieved 10 January 2020
  41. It was a pleasure for me to be able to... - Matjaž Belšak Strongman Slovenia, retrieved 10 January 2020
  42. "Eden premika letala, drugi meri moči kot gasilec". www.24ur.com (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.