Photo: Former WSM competitor Gerhard van Staden (left) and Chris van der Linde (right) at the 2020 Africa’s Strongest Man contest.
Five weeks before the start of the 2021 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest,
Strongman Archives caught up with South Africa’s
Chris van der Linde, who will be making his first WSM appearance.
Out of the 25 competitors in this year’s lineup, van der Linde will be the only newcomer. This is a rarity: WSM has featured at least two rookies in each of its past 31 editions. Regardless, the 30-year-old from Bloemfontein is far from being intimidated!
“It doesn’t make me nervous. I’m staying in my lane, and I’m not too stressed about the other guys. I’ll be doing the best that I can do, and that will be it!” stated van der Linde.
A Long-Time Lifter
Van der Linde started weight training in the gym when he was 15 years old – therefore, he has been lifting for about half of his life! Two years later, he was already able to bench press 140 kg, and that’s when he realized that he had potential in strength disciplines.
The South African also had an athletic background. Just like so many strongmen, such as
Terry Hollands,
Konstantine Janashia or
Adam Bishop, van der Linde was a rugby player from a young age, competing in the sport from age 6 until he was 21 years old.
“When I left rugby, I started strongman”, explained van der Linde. “I’m a very competitive person, so I had to replace rugby with something.”
Van der Linde was well aware of the existence of the sport of strongman because he had watched World’s Strongest Man on ESPN from a young age. He distinctly remembers being in awe of
Mariusz Pudzianowski. Nonetheless, when asked about the athletes he looks up to, the South African mentions
Žydrūnas Savickas and
Brian Shaw.
Not long after leaving rugby, van der Linde entered his first strongman contest, a local competition in Bloemfontein, approximately nine years ago… and he immediately made his mark by deadlifting 310 kg.
“That’s when the bug bit me the most!” he exclaimed.
After that early success, van der Linde kept working on his craft. In 2015, he took 7th place at South Africa’s Strongest Man in Pretoria. Three years later, he won the 2018 Arnold Africa Open, which featured the best athletes from his continent, and finished 3rd at the South Africa’s Strongest Man contest. These successes got him an invite to the 2018 Official Strongman Games, where he finished a disappointing 14th. However, the experience was well worth it.
“That was my first competition overseas, and I learned a lot. Getting to travel, but also seeing how the other guys operate made a big difference for me”, said van der Linde.
The experience certainly paid off for him: In 2019, van der Linde won the
Africa’s Strongest Man crown.
Last year, despite an easy 400 kg deadlift and a comfortable 205 kg Atlas stone lift, he lost the title by just half a point.
“It was very disappointing”, admitted van der Linde. “It’s a thorn in my flesh! Especially when I realized that it was by half a point, I was quite mad about it and disappointed in myself. However, there’s no point in looking back… We must look forward and keep going!”
Preparing for WSM
Many international observers were surprised to see Chris van der Linde’s name among this year’s 25 WSM competitors. Did he expect to get an invite?
“No, it came as a surprise. I was actually cooling off in the swimming pool after training when I checked my phone and saw the email. It was crazy, it felt like everything was spinning around… I couldn’t believe it! It’s a dream come true”, mentioned van der Linde.
The newcomer from South Africa expects to impress in the deadlift, but feels good about his chances in every discipline. In spite of his confidence, van der Linde knows he has some work to do in the moving events. He is notably trying to get leaner at the moment in an attempt to improve his speed.
“Strength-wise, I think I’m definitely more than prepared”, he said. “But when you get to this level, small improvements can make a big difference.”
Van der Linde is also getting advice from six-time WSM competitor
Gerhard van Staden, who is now a strongman promoter and coach in South Africa.
Future Goals
The 30-year-old has already accomplished one of his main goals by receiving a World’s Strongest Man invite. Still, van der Linde would eventually like to reach the podium at WSM.
Gerrit Badenhorst is the only African athlete to have done so, back in 1995 and 1996.
Like many current strongmen, van der Linde would also like to achieve a 500 kg deadlift. His personal best is a raw 420 kg, achieved in a powerlifting exhibition. Why raw? Quite simply because he doesn’t own a suit – the South African doesn’t believe that he can find a suit that fits his massive frame! Van der Linde is hoping to get an invite to the 2021 World Deadlift Championships in August.
With all of his deadlifting prowess and with the potential he showed in the bench press at a young age, one could wonder why the big South African doesn’t compete in powerlifting. However, he definitely prefers strongman.
“I don’t really think powerlifting is for me”, stated Chris van der Linde. “I like the fact that strongman tests overall strength. I do like the squat, the bench and the deadlift… Just not competing exclusively in those three disciplines!”
