An athlete regarded as Britain’s finest shot-putter has died.
Geoff Capes, named twice the world’s strongest man, passed away today, aged 75.
His devastated family released a statement confirming the said news.
They said: “The family of Geoffrey Capes would like to announce his sad passing today, 23rd October. Britain’s finest shot-putter and twice world’s strongest man.”
Capes scooped gold medals in the European Indoor Championships and the Commonwealth Games. He also once competed in the Highland Games in Scotland and won the World Heavy Events title in Lagos in 1981, the Mirror.
Following his retirement he became a coach to stars in both athletics and strength athletics. Adrian Smith was among those he helped – he took fifth spot in the World’s Strongest Man in 1990.
Capes was one of nine children and went on to become one of the most famous faces in Britain during the 1970s and 1980s. In shot put, he set a national record of 21.68m in 1980 which still stands to this day. Despite being among the favourites when competing he was never able to deliver an Olympic medal.
He later turned his focus to the world of strongman. Capes finished in the top three on six separate occasions, peaking with victory in 1983 and 1985.
Last year Capes told the Telegraph: “There were stronger people out there – I met a lot of them in the fens of Lincolnshire. But it was about the application of strength. Can you apply it at speed? Can you run with 400 pounds?
“I basically did that on a farm when I was a kid with sacks of potatoes. And I worked things out technically. They would call me ‘numbers’. If I went first, you’d see everyone copying. No matter what it was, I wanted to win.”
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