Wout Zijlstra

Wout Zijlstra (born 4 August 1964, in Wolsum) is a former strongman and Highland Games athlete from the Netherlands. He competed in the World's Strongest Man competition on two occasions, winning the 3rd place in 1998 behind Sweden's Magnus Samuelsson and Finland's Jouko Ahola.

Wout Zijlstra
Personal information
Born (1964-08-04) 4 August 1964
Wolsum, Friesland, The Netherlands
OccupationStrongman Highland Games
Height1.97 m (6 ft 5+12 in)[1]
Medal record
Strongman
Representing  Netherlands
World's Strongest Man
3rd 1998
8th 2001
Strongest man of the Netherlands
2nd 1991
3rd 1994
2nd 1996
2nd 1997
1st 2001
World's Strongest Team
1st 1998 wBerend Veneberg
4th 1999 w/Berend Veneberg
3rd 2001 w/Jarno Hams
3rd 2000 w/Berend Veneberg
2nd 2002 w/Berend Veneberg
Highland Games
Representing  Netherlands
NK Highland Games
1st 2003
1st 2004

Biography

Zijlstra was born in Wolsum, Friesland. He managed his first podium finish at the Strongest man of the Netherlands in 1991 where he finished second after Ted van der Parre. It took him until 1994 to reach the podium again. This time he finished third after Ted van der Parre and Berend Veneberg. After this he finished several more times on the podium but it would take him until 2001 to finally win the tournament.[2] After this victory he would not compete again and started focusing on Highland Games. He was invited twice to compete in the World's Strongest Man on both occasions he reached the final. In 1998 he competed together with his rival from the Netherlands Berend Veneberg and would finish third in the final.[2] In 2001 he finished eight in the World's Strongest Man competition.[2] Zijlstra competed together with Berend Veneberg on several occasions in the World's Strongest Team competition and won the tournament in 1998. After this they reached the podium several more times but did not win again. He finished the Elfstedentocht twice.[1] Wout won the NK Highland Games in 2003 and 2004 and held the world record for the 56 lb. weight for height[3] for more than a decade until it was finally beaten by Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Zijlstra works as an inspector of meat and does security jobs.[1] He is married and has 3 children.[1]

Honours

References

  1. "woutzijlstra.nl". Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  2. "realdutchpowe.nl". Retrieved 1 January 2010.
  3. "billhenderson.org". Retrieved 1 September 2010.
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