Hot take incoming! Gary Taylor is one of strength sport’s ultimate GOATs, and you’ve probably never heard of him.
- You want abs? He never lost the abs he had on display as an IFBB bodybuilder, even when he was just under 300lbs. Plus, the two men two whom he lost in the IFBB were arguably the greatest Mr. Olympia of all time, Dorian Yates, in 1988 and Ian Harrison, who had a marginally successful pro bb career (I recognize his name from the mags 30 years ago, for instance).
- You want a supertotal? He’s your man. In 1984 he represented hard for Britain in the Olympics with the second-heaviest snatch in his class, and his pile of powerlifting trophies was on display to show everyone that his bodybuilding muscle wasn’t just for show.
- WSM? He’s the shortest and lightest man to ever win it, and defeated fellow GOAT and four-time WSM winner Magnus Ver Magnusson to do it. And he’s been on the podium a few more times to boot.
- And he behind-the-neck push pressed 600lbs at a strength seminar that was judged good by none other than David Webster, ultimate strength historian and organizer of the WSM.
In 1984, 23 year old Gary Taylor bombed out on the clean and jerk after taking second in the snatch at the Olympics, only five years after he’d started training. The bodybuilding bug then bit him, and a 26 year old Gary Taylor places 5th in the AAU Mr. Universe. A year later, he lost to Dorian Yates in the IFBB British Championships, and then second again a year… at which point he decided to hang up his trunks and try something a bit less subjective. Thereafter he dabbled in strongman, powerlifting, and weightlifting, competing in all three in a concurrent fashion that’s never been emulated.
The Welsh Dragon’s Vital Stats
- Born: Oct. 14, 1961
- Height: 6′
- Weight: 295lbs for strongman; 231lbs (242lb class) for weightlifting, and I would assume heavyweight for powerlifting, which was then 125kg+/275lbs+
- Chest: 54″
- Biceps: 22″
Major Accomplishments
- 1984 Los Angeles Olympics 2nd in snatch (before bombing on the c&j)
- 1992 World’s Strongest Man (plus 3rd in 91, 5th in 92, and 6th in 1995)
- 600lb behind-the-neck push press (which for you Larry Wheels fans means Wheels still has a ways to go).
Best Lifts
(I’d assume single-ply) Squat: 355kg/781lbs (official), 405kg/892lbs (unofficial)
Raw Bench Press: 220kg/462lbs (official), 235kg/518lbs (unofficial)
Raw Deadlift: 315kg/693lbs (official), 357kg/786lbs
Behind-The-Neck Push Press: 272.5kg/600.75lbs (official)
Snatch: 170kg/373lbs (official); 407lbs unofficial at 295lbs
Clean and Jerk: 202kg/ 446lbs
That BTNP, if legit, is the heaviest ever, right?!?WOW wow wow…
To win the Strongest man at 6 feet, wow…most of them tower over him.
Never heard of him, I will search the web and youtube.
I like this, Jamie.
Btw, are you planning on competing?
And what about the movie in which you were going to appear?
Show us photos, if you are allowed.
Back around 1990 I had the pleasure of watching Gary train at John Burns (a Commonwealth Weightlifting Champion) Gym in Swansea, Wales.
Not recognising him straight away I watched this monster dressed in paint splattered sweats back out of the squat rack with an Olymoic bar with four blue Eleiko 20kg bumpers each side (180k total)
Assuming It was one of his warm-up sets for squats I was stunned to see him press the weight overhead return the bar to his traps , pause for a second and complete a set of triples without breaking a sweat.
He appeared to have plenty left in the tank. Phenomenal.
Good god. That must’ve been something to see.
Taylor was great. I think Hoerberl had to skip an event because, according to the doctor, there was too much lactic acid build up in his arms?
I’ve never heard of that- it sounds pretty silly on its face. Hoerberl was inhumanly huge- it sucks he’s not a better driver, haha.