Darren Sadler

Darren Sadler was born on 22 March 1980 in Boroughbridge and attended Boroughbridge High School.[2]

Sadler began training in the gym at the age of seventeen, but it was not until he was eighteen when he was approached by former World's Strongest Man competitor, Dave Warner,[3] that he began to compete in strongman competitions.

In 2009, Sadler said that "At first I was the youngest and the lightest person, but I did work at it. Now I come in the top few in the country every year."[4] However, when the IFSA showcased a light division class for strongmen in the mid-2000s, Sadler rose to eminence in the field.

In 2005, Sadler not only won the English under 105 kg championships, but went on to place first in the world championships in 2006.[5][6] In 2006, still in the light division, he won the IFSA World Strongman Challenge.[5][7] Such was his ability that despite his weight and height, in a sport where men of 6' 1" have been described as "short",[8] he was invited to compete in the main division and began to rise up the rankings against the very best in the world.

In 2006, Sadler secured an invite to the World's Strongest Man (WSM), the premier strength athletics event. Here, he was noted for producing "unbelievable performances for a guy his size."[9] In 2007, he came third in the Britain's Strongest Man finals after Terry Hollands and Mark Felix, who had both been in the top four athletes in the world at one stage. He was again invited to the WSM and was just short of making it into the top ten finalists. He has been quoted as saying his greatest achievement in strongman is qualifying for the 2006, 2007, 2009, and 2010 WSM competitions.[3]

In 2008, at the Britain's Strongest Man finals where Sadler was hoping to improve on his third-place finish in 2007, he tore a hamstring. This led to a self-imposed absence in 2008, in which time he concentrated on setting up a business.[4] However, a third invite to WSM was secured with a third-place finish in the WSM qualifying version of England's Strongest Man,[10] which replaced the Britain's Strongest Man competition in 2009 as a WSM qualifier, the latter not being held.

Sadler's favourite event is the Conan's Wheel, with his least favourite being the Deadlift Hold.[3] Additionally, his height hinders his performance in the Atlas Stones. Sadler has said that of the former greats he most admires Jón Páll Sigmarsson, and Mariusz Pudzianowski as the current athlete for whom he has most admiration, along with Derek Poundstone.[3]

In 2008, Sadler bought a gym in his hometown of Boroughbridge. He opened it in 2008 under the name of Absolute Fitness, and although his name has an attraction for "musclemen and fitness fanatics", he stressed that he wanted it to be an all-round gym for all ages and sexes.[2] He has referred to his business and family as his greatest personal achievements.[3]

• Squat: 380 kg
• Deadlift: 450 kg

• Profile on Official WSM site