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]
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.
Strongman career[]
Beginnings[]
A former Slovenian strongman and Slovenia's strongest man at that time [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.
- In 2015 World's Strongest Man in Malasya Matjaž successfully made his first appearance[10] at the event. While he didn't qualify for the finals,[20] he finished 3rd in the heat 5.[21][22]
- In 2016 World's Strongest Man in Botswana Matjaž made it to the finals, finishing 9th overall.[23][12][24]
- In 2017 World's Strongest Man in Botswana he was unable to make it to the finals, but he finished 3rd in the heat 1.[25]
- In 2018 World's Strongest Man in Philippines Matjaž showed his best performance on a competition of this level, finishing on 7th place overall in the finals.[26][27][28]
World's Strongest Team[]
- Matjaž competed for the first time in this event in 2015 World's Strongest Team, taking the 1st place with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.[29]
- He also competed in 2019 World's Strongest Team, finishing on 3rd place with Mikhail Shilyakov.[30]
Europe's Strongest Man[]
Matjaž competed on three different Europe's Strongest Man competitions, always finishing in the top 10:
- In 2015 Europe's Strongest Man he made his first appearance, finishing the competition on 5th place.[31]
- In 2017 Europe's Strongest Man he placed 6th.[32][33]
- In 2018 Europe's Strongest Man Matjaž finished on the 7th place.[34]
Arnold Strongman Classic[]
Matjaž competed on Arnold Strongman Classic events all over the world. His most important placings were:
- 6th place at 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic USA in Columbus, OH.[35]
- 5th place at 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic USA in Columbus, OH.[36][37]
- 1st place at 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe in Barcelona, Spain.[38]
- 2nd place at 2018 Arnold Strongman Classic Europe in Barcelona, Spain.[39]
- 1st place at 2017 Arnold Strongman Classic Poland.[38]
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 , one of major energy suppliers in Slovenia, where he symbolically 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[]
- ^ a b c "Matjaž Belšak". Kingsbox. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Matjaž Belšak". World's Strongest Man. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ 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)
- ^ a b "Matjaž Belšak". openpowerlifting.org. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b Poles, Tomáš. "Matjaž Belšak". Powerlifter.cz (in Czech). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Made in Slovenia - Matjaž Belšak, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ a b c d "Giants Live". giants-live.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "Športna prehrana Flexshop, Proteini | Flexshop.com". www.flexshop.com. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f "Najmočnejši Slovenec: s pomočjo čokolina lahko premakne tudi 40-tonsko letalo". RTVSLO.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b Pratt, Rob (18 November 2015). "The new faces of the 2015 World's Strongest Man". World's Strongest Man. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b c "Behind the Scenes with Slovenian Strongman Matjaz Belsak". BarBend. 26 January 2017. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b c "FOTO: Piknik na Brniku: vrnil se je najmočnejši Slovenec Matjaž Belšak". Times.si (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ a b c d e f g "Svet24.si - Prihaja spektakularni boj za laskavi naziv NAJMOČNEJŠEGA Slovenca!". Svet24.si - Vsa resnica na enem mestu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "Večer - (FOTO in VIDEO) Matjaž Belšak je najmočnejši moški v Sloveniji". www.vecer.com (in Slovenian). 31 October 2019. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "#video V Ljubljani okronali najmočnejšega Slovenca". Dnevnik. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "Results and Rankings 2016". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ 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.
- ^ "Results and Rankings 2017". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ SCL world champion 2017 Matjaz Belsak, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ Strongman.org (20 April 2015). "World's Strongest Man 2015 - Malaysia". Strongman.org. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ , Wikipedia, 5 October 2017, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ Pratt, Rob (28 December 2015). "World's Strongest Man 2015 Finalists". World's Strongest Man. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ , Wikipedia, 27 December 2019, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ "See the results for the Commerce World's Strongest Man 2016 elite fitness event on FloElite.com". www.floelite.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ , Wikipedia, 17 December 2019, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ , Wikipedia, 28 December 2019, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ a b "Svet24.si - Slovenec sedmi najmočnejši Zemljan". Svet24.si - Vsa resnica na enem mestu (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ Strongman.org (6 May 2018). "World's Strongest Man 2018 Final (Results)". Strongman.org. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ Triana, Andrew. "Huge Weekend For Strongman: World Records Fall and One Team Rises". elitefts. Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "Ultimate Strongman » Team World Championship 2019 Results". Retrieved 10 January 2020.
- ^ "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.
- ^ "Europe's Strongest Man 2017 Recap". www.floelite.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Giants Live". giants-live.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Giants Live". giants-live.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "2018 Arnold Strongman Classic". Rogue Fitness. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "Arnold Pro Strongman Arnold Sports Festival". www.arnoldsportsfestival.com. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ G, B. (3 March 2019). "Matjaž Belšak odličen peti na tekmovanju najmočnejših zemljanov". Gorenjski Utrip (in Slovenian). Retrieved 14 January 2020.
- ^ a b "Matjaž Belšak - Arnold Classic Europe and SCL 2018 Winner,". Matjaž Belšak Strongman. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ "2018 Arnold Strongman Europe Results". Starting Strongman. 3 October 2018. Retrieved 11 January 2020.
- ^ Matjaž Belšak premaknil tovornjak pred studiem Radia 1, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ It was a pleasure for me to be able to... - Matjaž Belšak Strongman Slovenia, retrieved 10 January 2020
- ^ "Eden premika letala, drugi meri moči kot gasilec". www.24ur.com (in Slovenian). Retrieved 10 January 2020.
External links[]
- 1992 births
- Living people
- Slovenian strength athletes
- Slovenian sportsmen
- Slovenian powerlifters
- Male powerlifters