Arnold Sports Festival

Derek Poundstone (born on September 28, 1981, 6'1" (1,83m), 315 lb is an American professional strongman athlete from Waterbury, Connecticut. Poundstone won the America's Strongest Man contest in 2007[1]. Derek Poundstone is also a Police Officer for the Naugatuck, Connecticut Police Department and is the owner and lan...dlord of an apartment complex. Derek (born in the USA) spent the first ten years of his life in Italy and Spain. Derek is supported by his mother Colleen and his brother Justin. Derek began by competing in powerlifting and progressed to become the Connecticut State Champion. He started competing in strongman after finding an advertisement for a contest on the back of a powerlifting flyer. After earning his Professional Strongman card from the ASC (American Strongman Corporation), Derek took two years off competing to enter the Police Academy and become a police officer. He returned to compete in strongman, and placed fifth in the 2006 St. Patrick's Strongman National Qualifier[2]. Derek then went on to place 2nd to the current IFSA World Champion Zydrunas Savickas in the 2006 World Strongman Challenge contest in Tulsa, Oklahoma[3]. Next, Derek placed 5th in the 2006 America's Strongest Man USA National Championship[4]. This earned him an invite to the 2006 IFSA (International Federation of Strength Athletes) World Championship. On October 26, 2006, two weeks before the World Championships, Derek severely injured his lumbar spine during training while attempting a maximum effort deadlift of 366 kg (805 lb)[5]. Derek had a lumbar disc herniation (L4/5) and a massive spinal cord hemorrhage. Doctors told him that he would never lift again due to the severity of the injury[6]. Derek, determined to prove the doctors wrong and to realize his dream of becoming a world champion, started his path of recovery. He focused on training that he was still able to do, such as bench pressing. Within two weeks he won a state powerlifting bench press meet. He then set his sights on developing a training regimen which would enable him to compete at 100 percent in strongman again. Derek's return to the strongman competition circuit was the 2007 St. Patrick's Strongman contest in Columbia, South Carolina. Derek won by 13.5 points[7] and overcame his deadlifting injury fear by completing a 364 kg (800lb) deadlift during the competition. Winning qualified Derek to compete in the 2007 America's Strongest Man USA National Championship, which Derek won by a record 30 points[8]. With victory, Derek achieved his goal of becoming America's Strongest Man, the top rated strength athlete in the USA. Derek also qualified to compete in the 2007 IFSA World Championship in Geumsan, South Korea[9]. Additionally, Derek received an invite from Dr. Terry Todd to compete in his contest, the 2008 Arnold Strongman Classic, in Columbus, Ohio. In addition to training extensively for the IFSA World Championships, Derek has since competed in two Team Strongman contests and a Highland Games and Strongman hybrid contest. First was the USA vs. World team contest put on by Al Thompson[10] in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Derek and his team (Travis Ortmayer, Van Hatfield, Nick Best, Walt Gogola) pulled out an unprecedented victory against three of the top five European strongmen in the World, (Zydrunas Savickas, Vasyl Virastyuk, and Andrus Murumets). Team USA won the first three events and Team World won the next three events. Team USA shut down Team World with a victory in the final event, the Atlas Stones[11]. Derek's next contest was in Callander, Scotland at the World Highland Games contest[12]. This contest was a Highland Games / Strongman hybrid. This was Derek's first participation in a Highland Games event and not only was he victorious, he also broke two world records. With Douglas Edmunds present, Derek smashed Igor Pedan's 9 rep 125 kg (275 lb) Log Clean and Press World Record[13] by powering through 13 reps, with 130 kg (286 lb). Derek also broke the current World Champion's, Zydrunas Savickas, 140 kg (308 lb) Block Press World Record by pressing out a 145 kg (319 lb) block[14]. Derek's training partner Tom McClure also competed in Callander and placed 2nd. Derek's next contest was a team contest, the World's Strongest Nation held in the Ukraine. This time Team USA consisted of Derek along with Travis Ortmayer, Tom McClure, and Brian Shaw. Team USA placed 2nd overall[15][16] behind Team Ukraine led by Vasyl Virastyuk. Derek competed in the 2007 IFSA World Championship held in Geumsan, South Korea. Derek was in 2nd position throughout the entire competition until the end. During the final event, Derek lost vital seconds when he ripped open his hands during the Farmer's Walk event, which caused him to drop the implements. Derek placed 4th overall in his first appearance at the World Championship, 2 points behind Mikhail Koklyaev and 1 point behind the 2006 World Champ Zydrunas Savickas. Vasyl Virastyuk won the competition, becoming the first athlete to win both the WSM World Title and the IFSA World Title. Derek's performance was the best ever recorded by an American at the IFSA World Championships. Derek decided to compete on the WSM/SS circuit after sufficient political differences with IFSA. Derek was called up by Odd Haugen and asked to enter as a replacement athlete into the Mohegan Sun Super Series due to Kevin Nee pulling out with a torn biceps. Derek accepted and competed for the first time against Mariusz Pudzianowski. On home turf, Derek defeated the four-time WSM champion and secured a qualification spot for the 2008 World's Strongest Man contest. ARNOLD CLASSIC Derek backstage at the 2008 Arnold Classic Photo by Chris Chapman Afterwards, Derek competed in the 2008 Arnold's Strongest Man contest. His first appearance at the Arnold, Derek pushed Zydrunas Savickas to a tie during the first day of competition. Derek had injured his pectoralis muscle a week earlier, which led to him having to use only his left hand on the Circus Dumbbell press. He still managed to tie Zydrunas for the World Record in the event. Day two saw Zydrunas Savickas pull ahead enough for the win. Derek would take second place, though being the lightest competitor in the field, he defeated champion athletes like Mikhail Koklyaev, Andrus Murumets, and Phil Pfister. On June 29, 2008 during the grueling 16 hour, 2 day Fortissimus contest, Derek became the first American to defeat Zydrunas Savickas. Derek and Zydrunas were approximately 40 points ahead of all the other competitors and pushed each other to the last stone. Derek was the only athlete who managed to lift the 517lb Louis Cyr Stone and secured his victory and title at the "Mightiest Man on the Planet." Derek became the 2008 Super Series champion after accumulating the most points throughout the Grand Prix. 1st at the Mohegan Sun, 2nd at Madison Square Garden, and 4th at Sweden earned Derek enough to take the overall title. Derek did not compete in the Viking Power SS contest. Derek entered the 2008 World's Strongest Man competition where he and Mariusz Pudzianowski, Poland's then four-time champion would go head-to-head in the final event, the atlas stones. Derek was unable to keep pace with Pudzianowski for the first four stones but managed to pull even on the fifth. Derek gained the lead, but as he lifted the final stone to the to the lip of the platform he pushed prematurely and lost control, sending the stone to the ground resulting in his loss. lip of the platform he pushed prematurely and lost control, sending the stone to the ground resulting in his loss.Read More