William "Bill" Kazmaier spent a large portion of his youth as a talented athlete in school sports. This eventually led to 2 years of college football at the University of Wisconsin before dropping out to pursue his destiny in the weightlifting disciplines in 1974. It was at this time that he experienced two of the most important changes in his life. The first was physical, in learning and practicing in the sport of powerlifting. The next was of a spiritual nature, when Bill read a verse of Psalms 40 that apparently inspired him greatly. It was the culmination of these 2 things that pushed Kazmaier to pursue his dreams in the strength athlete fields.
It wasn't long until Kaz would show the world his gifts. He rose to the top of the ranks in the powerlifting world, setting a 633lb bench press world record (keeping in mind that this was before the use of bench shirts) in 1979. And that very same year Kazmaier would make another important step in his journey: he entered the World's Strongest Man 1979 competition. In his debut Kaz would place third, and amaze the judges and competitors alike with his brute strength.
Despite all this success Kazmaier was not in prosperity. He was quite penniless and sometimes homeless struggling in southern California. But an old friend soon picked him up and brought him to Auburn where he would eventually find work for the largest barbel maker in the world. Finding success in his new occupation it wasn't long until Kaz was winning international recognition and improved his own world record bench press to 661lbs.
All this would lead up to the thing that would bring Kazmaier the most renown, his 3 consecutive Worlds Strongest Man titles. Starting with a dominating performance in 1980 Kazmaier would go on to win up until 1982. Unfortunately a pectoral tear would force Kaz to make some cutbacks. In addition to this there are several rumors as to why Kaz stayed away from World's Strongest Man for so long. Some say the organizers refused to give him an invitation on grounds that he was too dominant. Kaz says he waited for the invitation but sadly never received one.
Despite this Kaz would return in 1987 in the Pure Strength competition. Meant to be the definitive decider between the 3 most successful strongmen of the time, Kazmaier, Capes and Sigmarsson, the competition would serve as the beginning of Kaz's comeback. After some heated exchanges in the 1988, Kaz was beaten by the great Sigmarsson. Trying again in 1989 Kaz eventually retired permanently from the competition. But it would not be his final championship. Kaz went on to dominate the Pure Strength competitions alongside OD Wilson representing the United States.
Kaz has had some other routes that he followed, such as trying out for the Green Bay Packers, a move that was inspired by American great Jim Thorpe. He also participated in the World Championship Wrestling, a professional wrestling competition where he would have several 'shots' at the title. This was all, of course, on top of his continued work in the gym, focusing on power and strength.
Although Kazmaier retired from the sport of strongman, he did not move away from it. Kaz is now very well known for his appearances at modern World's Strongest Man competitions where he provides commentary. Kazmaier's vast experience provides an insiders understanding of the true challenges that athletes face in each event. He was more than happy to cheer on the new American champions of the 2000s who would break the long drought of American victories, since his own in 1981. Bill Kazmaier is still considered by many to be one of the greatest strongmen who ever lived, and very often as "The World's Strongest Man".