Žydrūnas Savickas (; born July 15, 1975) is a Lithuanian former professional strongman and powerlifter. Throughout a career which spanned nearly three decades, he competed in and won 79 international competitions, 5 international masters competitions and 36 national competitions. This included four World's Strongest Man titles, two IFSA Strongman World Championship's, six IFSA Grand Prix wins, three Europe's Strongest Man titles, a Fortissimus title, six Giants Live wins, seventeen Lithuania's Strongest Man titles, a record thirty four Strongman Champions League wins and a record eight Arnold Strongman Classic titles.
Savickas is the most decorated strongman in history. With 75 world records across multiple strongman events, particularly in overhead pressing including a sixteen-year reign as log lift world record holder and seven World Log Lift Championship titles, Savickas is widely regarded as the greatest strongman of all time.
Career Savickas became interested in strength sports after watching a Lithuanian regional strongman contest on TV in 1989. Three years later, aged 17, he took part in that same contest in 1992 and defeated several older and more experienced competitors, which prompted him to train powerlifting.
1995–1997 After 3 years of training equipped powerlifting, Savickas participated in 1995 Lithuanian national powerlifting championships in the +125 kg weight class and won. In 1996 Lithuanian national powerlifting championships he broke Lithuanian junior national records in squat, bench press, deadlift and total.
At 1997 IPF World Juniors Powerlifting Championships, Savickas totaled in single ply equipment with a squat, bench press and a deadlift.
1998–2000 In 1998, Savickas won his first Lithuania's Strongest Man contest. He would later go on to win this contest a total of 17 times, with the latest coming in 2022. Savickas then competed at the 1998 and 2000 World's Strongest Man contests but failed to qualify for the finals on both occasions.
Savickas won the silver medal in the 2000 IPF World powerlifting championships in Japan under the super heavyweight category with a total of in single ply equipment, just behind Brad Gillingham. Savickas squatted , bench pressed and deadlifted at a bodyweight of .
2001–2002 In 2001, a contest in the Faroe Islands dealt Savickas a major setback, as he tore both patellar tendons during the Conan's Wheel event. Many believed that the extent of the injury meant that his career was over. However, nine months later, Savickas won the Lithuanian powerlifting championships and a short time later, he also won the 2002 Lithuania's Strongest Man contest. Savickas would go on to finish in 2nd place at the 2002 World's Strongest Man in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. He would finish in 2nd place five more times in 2003, 2004, 2011, 2013 and 2015 and 1st place at the 2009, 2010, 2012 and 2014 World's Strongest Man contests.
2003–2004 Savickas won the Arnold Strongman Classic six consecutive times starting from 2003 until 2008. In 2003 he also placed second at 2003 Strongman Super Series Holland Grand Prix.
In 2004 he came third to Hugo Girard and Vasyl Virastyuk at the 2004 World Muscle Power Classic and won 2004 CEKOL Cup presented by IFSA.
In 2004 Lithuanian national powerlifting championships, Savickas totaled in single ply equipment with a squat of , a bench press of and a deadlift of .
2005–2006 Savickas won the IFSA European Championships in 2005 which qualified him for the IFSA World Championships. In September 2005, he broke three world records and won the IFSA Strongman World Championships in Quebec, Canada. In December 2005, Savickas won the IFSA World Team Championships with Team Europe.
On October 24, 2005, Savickas represented Lithuania in a team competition with Vidas Blekaitis, Saulius Brusokas, and Vilius Petrauskas. Team Lithuania placed 5th overall at the IFSA World's Strongest Nation contest in Ukraine.
In 2005 Lithuanian national powerlifting championships, Savickas squatted a career best in single ply equipment.
In 2006 he won IFSA Dubai Grand Prix, IFSA World St.rongman Challenge, IFSA Holland Grand Prix, IFSA Latvia World Cup, United Strongman Series Lithuania and the IFSA World Championships for the 2nd time in 2006 in Reykjavík, Iceland.
2007–2008 In September 2007, Savickas finished in 3rd place at the last ever IFSA World Championships behind runner-up Mikhail Koklyaev and champion Vasyl Virastyuk in Geumsan, South Korea.
Savickas won 5 out of the 7 total contests during the inaugural 2008 Strongman Champions League season and won the 2008 overall title 58 points ahead of second-place finisher Ervin Katona.
2009–2010 In June 2009, Savickas won Fortissimus after finishing runner-up in 2008 behind Derek Poundstone. On October 3, 2009, Savickas won the 2009 World's Strongest Man competition ahead of defending champion and five-time winner Mariusz Pudzianowski. He had not competed at WSM since 2004.
On the set of Lo Show dei Record in Rome, Italy on April 1, 2010, Savickas set a record of 70 meters (229 ft 7 in) for the longest distance carrying a 300 kg yoke. The record was part of the Italian TV series Lo Show dei Record. In June 2010, Savickas won the Europe's Strongest Man competition.
In September 2010, Savickas and Brian Shaw tied for points at the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition, but Savickas won the championship on countback. He also set a new world record for the Giant Wooden Log Lift by lifting .
Savickas also won the World Log Lift Championships in 2008, 2009, and 2011 (no contest was held in 2010).
2011 In April 2011, Savickas set a new Guinness World Record by performing a 20-meter Farmer's Walk in 7.55 seconds with implements in each hand. The event was broadcast on the Guinness TV show in Europe.
Savickas won five Strongman Champions League events during the 2011/2012 season, in Finland in March 2011, Germany on April 16, 2011, the SCL Semi-finals in Canada in October 2011, Latvia in November 2011 and the SCL Finals in Sarajevo, Bosnia on February 7, 2012. Ervin Katona won the overall championships, with Savickas as the runner-up. During the SCL Finals in Sarajevo, Savickas set a new world record in the Log Lift with . This was his 7th consecutive world record in the Log Lift, not including his world record in the Giant Wooden Log Lift set at the 2010 World's Strongest Man contest.
In September 2011, Savickas lost his WSM crown to Brian Shaw at the 2011 World's Strongest Man contest at Wingate University, North Carolina, coming in second place for the fourth time.
2012 Savickas won the 2012 Europe's Strongest Man contest on June 23, 2012, his second ESM title after winning in 2010. Savickas also set a new world record in the Log Lift with a lift of . This was his 8th consecutive Log Lift world record.
Savickas won 11 of the 14 Strongman Champions League contests in the 2012 season and won the overall championships title. During the SCL Holland event, Savickas set another world record in the Log Lift with a lift of . This was Savickas' third Log Lift world record in 2012 and 9th consecutive Log Lift world record.
On October 1, 2012, Savickas regained the WSM crown by winning the 2012 World's Strongest Man contest in Los Angeles, California. This was Savickas' third WSM title, and became the fifth competitor in WSM history to win three or more WSM titles. Savickas also set a new Log Lift world record in the finals with a lift of 220 kg (484 lb).
On October 7, 2012, Savickas won the 2012 World Log Lift Championships which was held at the same venue as the SCL Savickas Classic event. This was his fourth consecutive World Log Lift Championships title.
2013 Savickas won his inaugural 2013 contest, the Strongman Champions League Holland event held in Kalkar, Germany on June 22, 2013. Savickas also attempted a new Log Lift world record of , but failed to lockout the weight overhead. Savickas won seven SCL contests in the 2013 season and came second in the overall championships behind Krzysztof Radzikowski.
On June 29, 2013, Savickas won his third Europe's Strongest Man title. He also set a new Log Lift world record with a lift of .
In August 2013, Savickas finished second in the 2013 World's Strongest Man contest behind Brian Shaw.
2014 At the 2014 Força Bruta contest, held in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, Savickas set a new world record in the Log Lift with , along with a record in the deadlift event, with for 10 repetitions.
The following month, at the Giants Live Poland contest held in Dolina Charlotty, Savickas again set a new world record in the Log Lift, becoming the first human to lift .
At the 2014 World's Strongest Man, he managed to win his fourth title with just half a point difference over the second-placed Hafthór Júlíus Björnsson and in so doing became the oldest WSM winner in history, at 38 years and 258 days. Zydrunas also set a world record in the giant barbell squat event by squatting for 15 repetitions.
Savickas also won the 2014 Arnold Strongman Classic, for the 7th time, defeating his long-time rival Brian Shaw. In addition to his victory, Savickas set new records in both the Austrian Oak, pressing for four repetitions and in the Hummer Tire Deadlift event with a lift of .
2015 Savickas secured second place behind Brian Shaw at the 2015 Arnold Strongman Classic, despite being hindered by back and hamstring injuries. He again set a world record in the Austrian Oak event, lifting for four repetitions. However, during the Bale Tote event, he sustained nerve damage to his neck; an injury that would trouble him for years following.
Later that year, at the 2015 World's Strongest Man competition, Savickas again finished as the runner-up to Shaw, once more competing through back and hamstring injuries. He claimed victory at the 2015 World Log Lift Championship.
At 2015 Força Bruta competition held in Rio de Janeiro, Savickas broke the log press world record with .
2016 Savickas again won the 2016 Arnold Strongman Classic, a record 8th time. He then emerged runner-up to Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson at the 2016 Arnold Australia and 2016 Arnold South America.
Savickas dropped from 2016 World's Strongest Man competition because of lingering back, neck, and hamstring injuries.
2017 In 2017, Savickas returned to the World's Strongest Man. While he made the finals, he was hampered by past injuries and finished in 9th place. This was the first time he placed lower than 2nd at WSM since the year 2000.
He also won 2017 Giants Live World Tour Finals and 2017 Burn Showdown.
2018 Savickas placed 4th in the 2018 Europe's Strongest Man, and 10th in the 2018, and his last World's Strongest Man finals. Savickas had to withdraw after the overhead press due to injuries to his biceps and Achilles.
In October, Savickas competed in the inaugural World's Ultimate Strongman which contained one of the most stacked lineups of all-time and ended up in tenth place out of twelve.
2019–2022 After winning 2020 Lithuania's Strongest Man and Pasaulio Taurė, he emerged twelfth at the 2021 Shaw Classic. After placing tenth at 2022 Shaw Classic and eleventh at 2022 Arnold UK, Savickas retired from open competitions and switched to masters divisions.
Personal records Powerlifting Done in official powerlifting competitions under IPF rules (single-ply equipment). Squat – (2005 Lithuanian National Championships) (Lithuanian record) Bench press – (2004 Lithuanian National Championships) (Lithuanian record) Deadlift – (2004 Lithuanian National Championships) (Lithuanian record) Total – (425|265.5|400) (2004 Lithuanian National Championships) (Lithuanian record)
Strongman Log press – (2015 Arnold Classic Brazil) (former world record) → Savickas has broken this world record a total of 16 times ever since he did it first with in 2004. Log press/ Austrian Oak (for reps) – for 4 reps (2015 & 2016 Arnold Strongman Classic's) (World Record)