Former World’s Strongest Man And Powerlifting Hall Of Famer Don Reinhoudt Dies At 78
Legendary weightlifter Don Reinhoudt has died at age 78 after a brilliant career that earned him a place in the Hall of Fame.
Reinhoudt won the World’s Strongest Man award in 1979 and was inducted into the National Strength and Power Hall of Fame in 2018.
According to the Fredonia State Police, Reinhoudt was involved in a one-car collision in the town of Pomfret on Monday morning.
His investigation reportedly found his Jeep hit a tree. Reinhoudt was transported to Brooks Memorial Hospital in Dunkirk, where he was later pronounced dead.
In 2018, the same year he was inducted into the Hall of Fame, Reinhoudt was named among the Top 10 All-Time Strongmen of the Century by the International Powerlifting Federation.
Legendary weightlifter Don Reinhoudt has died at 78 after a brilliant career
Reinhoudt (center) set 51 world records, including a 520-lb cog lift and a 2,550-lb car lift
In high school, Reinhoudt starred in football, basketball, and track and it wasn’t until college in Iowa that his attention turned to weightlifting. It wasn’t long before he gained national and international recognition.
The New York native won national and world championships in powerlifting from 1973 to 1976. According to the Greater Buffalo Sports Hall of Fame, he was officially recognized as the World’s Strongest Man from 1973 to 1980.
Reinhoudt set 51 world records, including a 520-lb cog lift, a 2,550-lb car lift, and a 10,000-lb train pull. He lifted a combined 2,420 pounds on the bench press (626 pounds), squats (935 pounds) and deadlifts (885 pounds).
In 2018, Reinhoudt was named among the top 10 century strongmen of all time.
Reinhoudt is credited with being one of the seminal figures in bringing the strongman and powerlifting into the mainstream.
Laurence ‘Big Loz’ Shahlaei, a former British and European Strongest Man, paid tribute on Instagram, writing: “Very sad to learn of the passing of Don Reinhoudt, the second man to win World’s Strongest Man, and one of the pioneers of the modern sports of Powerlifting and Strongman.
“I was lucky enough to speak to Don a couple of times, and he was incredibly kind and a true gentleman with so many stories to share. Our thoughts are with his wife, family and friends of his.’
