World Highland Games Championships

The World Highland Games Championships is a well-recognized event in both strength athletics and Highland Games. The championships were organized by David Webster, OBE of Scotland, who still conducts the World Championships. A roll of past competitors includes many of the World's greatest strength athletes with Olympic finalists, World Record Holders, Commonwealth Games medal winners, Guinness Book of Record entrants, physique champions, continental & national titleholders, World's Strongest Men and International legends in various sports.[1] The World Highland Games Championships consist of traditional events and are in this sense differentiated from many of the other international strength athletic competitions, including the Highlander World Championships.

World Highland Games Championships
2018
Tournament information
LocationVaries (last held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada)
Established1980
FormatMulti-event competition
Current champion
United States Chuck Kasson

History

The World Highland Games Championships were first held in 1980 and were created as an attempt to identify who was truly the greatest Highland Games competitor. Many of the Highland Games competitions around the world have traditionally not been invitational, in the sense that novices can step up to compete, or at the more established events, the competitors were very much more selected from the nation in which the competition was held. The world's introduced a formalization of the requirements for entry and a truly international flavor.

Over the years competitors have been drawn from the disciplines of field athletics, including the shot put, discus and hammer throw, as well as strength athletes and dedicated Highland Games specialists. In the first three decades of the competition there have been thirteen champions, with four men each having won the title five times, Geoff Capes, Jim McGoldrick, Ryan Vierra and Matt Sandford, and one of those, Geoff Capes, having also won the 1981 World Highland Games Championships held in Lagos, which would make him six times world champion, although this is not listed on the official website.[2]

List of champions

List information taken from this source.[3]

Year Champion Location
1980Scotland Grant AndersonUnited States Los Angeles, California, United States
1981England Geoff CapesNigeria Lagos, Nigeria[2]
1981Scotland Bill AndersonAustralia Melbourne, Australia
1982Scotland Grant AndersonScotland Prestonpans, Scotland
1983England Geoff CapesScotland Carmunnock, Scotland[2]
1984England Geoff CapesScotland Carmunnock, Scotland
1985England Geoff CapesScotland Carmunnock, Scotland
1986England Geoff CapesScotland Carmunnock, Scotland
1987England Geoff CapesScotland Clarkston, Scotland
1988United States Jim McGoldrickScotland Aviemore, Scotland
1989United States Jim McGoldrickScotland Aviemore, Scotland
1990United States Jim McGoldrickScotland Glasgow, Scotland
1991United States Jim McGoldrickScotland Callander, Scotland
1992Australia Jo QuigleyScotland Callander, Scotland
1993United States Jim McGoldrickScotland Callander, Scotland
1994Scotland George PatienceScotland Callander, Scotland
1995Scotland Alistair GunnScotland Kilmarnock, Scotland
1996United States Ryan VierraNew Zealand Waipu, New Zealand
1997United States Ryan VierraUnited States Fredericksburg, Virginia
1998United States Ryan VierraFinland Oulu, Finland
1999Australia Matt SandfordUnited States Pleasanton, California
2000Australia Matt SandfordNew Zealand Waipu, New Zealand
2001Australia Matt SandfordUnited States Pleasanton, California
2002Australia Matt SandfordUnited States Pleasanton, California
2003Australia Matt SandfordCanada Antigonish, Nova Scotia
2004Scotland Bruce AitkenUnited States Lincoln, New Hampshire, United States
2005United States Ryan VierraCanada Fergus, Canada
2006United States Ryan VierraUnited States Pleasanton, California
2007Scotland Gregor EdmundsScotland Inverness, Scotland
2008United States Sean BetzUnited States Bridgeport, West Virginia
2009Australia Aaron Neighbour[4]Scotland Edinburgh, Scotland "Gathering of the Clans"
2010United States Larry BrockCanada Victoria, Canada "30th Anniversary"
2011United States Dan McKimUnited States Lincoln, New Hampshire, United States
2012United States Matt VincentCanada Fergus, Canada
2013United States Dan McKimUnited States Lincoln, New Hampshire, United States
2014United States Matt VincentScotland Dunfermline, Scotland[5]
2015United States Dan McKimFrance Bressuire, France[6]
2016England Scott RiderScotland Halkirk, Scotland[7]
2017United States Dan McKimNetherlands Hank, Netherlands
2018United States Chuck KassonCanada Victoria, Canada
2019United States Spencer TylerUnited States Lincoln, New Hampshire, United States[8]

Championships by country
Country Gold
 United States19
 Australia7
 England7
 Scotland7

Repeat champions
Champion Times
England Geoff Capes6[2]
United States Jim McGoldrick5
United States Ryan Vierra5
Australia Matt Sandford5
United States Dan McKim4
Scotland Grant Anderson2
United States Matt Vincent2

References
  1. Roll of Honour
  2. Although the IHGF state on their official website that Geoff Capes won the World Heavy Championship in 1983 in Lagos in their IHGF Champions page (here) the 1983 championship finals were held in Carmunnock, as stated in the Development section of IHGF's same website (here). The location of the 1983 championships being Carmunnock is corroborated by Emily Ann Donaldson in her book The Scottish Highland Games in America (Emily Ann Donaldson, The Scottish Highland Games in America, p19, Pelican Publishing, 1986, ISBN 1-56554-560-5, ISBN 978-1-56554-560-1). In Donaldson's book, it is mentioned that a World Championship was held in Lagos in 1981 and Capes won this. The book states that the World Heavy Events Championships was also held in 1981 in Melbourne. From this evidence, it would seem that there were two World Championships held in 1981, both sponsored by the IHF. Further corroborating the existence of the 1981 Lagos World Championships is the profile of Geoff Capes written by the founder of the IHF, David Webster, who states that Capes won his first world title in 1981 in Lagos. (David Webster, Sons of Samson Volume 2 Profiles, page 78 (Ironmind Enterprises), ISBN 0-926888-06-4). Further still, on his official website, Capes states that he was six times world champion.
  3. "Table of final results (1978 - present)". Archived from the original on 2010-01-03.
  4. The Gathering 2009 Official website
  5. The 2014 World Highland Games Heavy Events Championships
  6. "The IHGF Worlds in Bressuire: And the winner is...Dan McKIM - HIGHLAND GAMES BRESSUIRE, le blog français-anglais d'Alain Cadu". 15 June 2015.
  7. "Dan McKim Wins IHGF World Highland Games Championships".
  8. "Spencer Tyler Wins Webster Worlds".
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