Laurence Shahlaei

Shahlaei was born in Cheltenham, Gloucestershire,[2] his father is Kurdish from Kermanshah and his mother is English from Newcastle upon Tyne. He attended Balcarras School, and later moved to Stroud, Gloucestershire.[2]

Shahlaei started strongman training in 2005 and entered his first novice competition that year, where he finished 8th. Within two years, he entered his first Britain's Strongest Man ("BSM"), having won the Midlands qualifier. In that competition, he made a huge impact, making it to the final, only to tear his biceps in the tyre flip, which forced him to withdraw. He won the Midlands qualifier again in 2008, and once again made the final, this time finishing 4th behind Jimmy Marku, Terry Hollands, and Mark Felix. This placing landed him an invite to the World's Strongest Man in 2008. He did not make the final.

In 2009, four years after beginning strongman, he became the UKSC Midlands Strongest Man and also won the UKSC England's Strongest Man, citing this, alongside his WSM 2008 squat win, as the greatest moment of his career (the WSM qualifier titled "England's Strongest Man", which replaced the Britain's Strongest Man contest in 2009, was won by Terry Hollands and Shahlaei did not compete in that). His favourite strongman events are the Squat for reps, Farmer's walk and Super Yoke because those are a good test of natural strength coupled with his world class grip strength (having closed the Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper). His least favourite strongman event is the Atlas stones.

In his career spanning across 15 years, Shahlaei has competed in 55 international competitions and have won 8 of them[3] including his best win, the 2016 Europe's Strongest Man. Laurence also competed in the inaugural World's Ultimate Strongman competition in Dubai at the Bab al-Shams Arena in October 2018. He won the 5th place from a stacked field of 12.[4] His final competition was 2021 Giants Live Strongman Classic.

Shahlaei has said that he would like to set up a sports related business in the future, but his dream is to become an actor. He had a role in The Golden Compass (2007). On 19 August 2011, Shahlaei competed on Deal or No Deal, where he won £20,000 and lifted presenter Noel Edmonds up above his head. In August 2012, Shahlaei opened a personal training business in Swindon, Wiltshire.[5] Laurence has since written various training programmes which he sells via his website, as well as various other merchandise labelled 'Team Loz'.

On 2 May 2020, Shahlaei was the official commentator on Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson's 501 kg successful world record deadlift done in World's Ultimate Strongman Feats of Strength series during the 2020 Corona virus pandemic.[6]

In powerlifting

• Bench press max: 230 kg (507 lb)
• Squat max: 380 kg (838 lb)
• Deadlift max: 385 kg (849 lb)

In strongman

• Squat: 317.5 kg (700 lb) x 12 reps
• Log: 190 kg (419 lb)
• Axle: 205 kg (452 lb)
• Deadlift: 435 kg (959 lb)

Records & other feats of strength

• Former world record in the Dinnie Stone carry - 14 ft 10 in [7]
• Closing the Captains of Crush No.3 gripper on several occasions

Shahlaei and his wife, Elizabeth (Liz) Mason, live in Swindon, Wiltshire.[8] They have 3 kids[9] daughters Ava, Alexa and son Lewis, whom Shahlaei described as his greatest achievements. Shahlaei has been open about his struggles with depression.

Shahlaei and Liz maintains a YouTube channel Big Loz Official which is sponsored by 'Mirafit', a popular strength and conditioning equipment Store in UK. Since 2016, the channel has covered many strongman related topics including training, event coverage, athletes and competition analysis, strongman history, and live Q&A sessions with strongman fans. Known as the most knowledgeable person in the world of strongman[9] Shahlaei considers Lithuania's Zydrunas Savickas to be the greatest strongman of all time and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson to be the strongest man to have ever lived.

• Profile on Official WSM site