Pfister: King of the Jungle in Brazil
by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind Enterprises, Inc. © 2005
Sure Phil Pfister won the IFSA Pan American Championships today in Brazil, but how he did it was as important as the win itself.
First, just on the numbers, Pfister won all but one event - the MHP Stones of Strength - and even there, he was a close second.
But numbers alone do not tell the full story as the man once nicknamed "The Future Mayor of St. Louis" due to his crowd-pleasing antics, really hit his stride in Sao Paulo, revving up the crowd, which gave him its best end-of-day salute when he ripped off his shirt: They, "started a scream like Johnny Weissmuller in those classic Tarzan movies," IFSA CEO Jussi Laurimaa said.
Laurimaa, who has a cycling background, said that if strongman had something like a Patron de Peloton award (given to not just the fastest guy, but to the true leader of the group), Pfister would have gotten that today.
Here are the top five finishers in the IFSA Pan American Championships, all of whom qualify for the IFSA World Championships in Quebec:
1. Philip "Wolfman" Pfister (USA) 87.0 points
2. Travis Ortmayer (USA) 77.5
3. Karl "Gladiator" Gillingham (USA) 67.5
4. Geoff "Tiger" Dolan (Canada) 64.0
5. Mark "Spice Man" Felix (Grenada) 61.0
After today's performance, "Wolfman" as Pfister's nickname might come under review, explained Laurimaa. Sure, you could go with something like "King of the Jungle," but how about just renaming the "Wolfman" something simple, like "Alpha" instead?