Those taking part will initially be based in Dubai for a ‘training camp’ as the WUS team looks to turn promising amateurs into professionals. Backed by Dubai Sport Council, the athletes will live, eat, train and breathe strongman, under the guidance of the WUS team and Emirates Strength.
The first candidate is Larry Wheels. He has been recommended by current WUS champion and World’s Strongest Man Hafthor Bjornsson, who recently trained with Larry and instantly recognized his potential.
The American is known as a social media sensation with more than 1.2m followers across his YouTube and Instagram channels, and is a strength sport phenom.
At just 24 years of age and with very little proper lifting training behind him, Larry is producing feats of strength that leave fans in awe. He is routinely lifting over 800lbs on his squat, 850 on deadlift and more than 600 on his bench press.
He recently took part in his first amateur strongman competition in Los Angeles, placing second.
Now, he will arrive in Dubai next month and spend at least six weeks honing his skills. It’s a move that has already sent shockwaves through the world of strongman, as did the WUS event held at Bab Al Shams in October which had the biggest purse in the sport.
At the time, WUS said they wanted to develop the sport of strongman, and how athletes are treated and are now unveiling the second part of this promise.
Don Idrees, Owner and Co-Founder of WUS: “The WUS Incubator is the next step on our journey to help grow the sport of strongman. “This is something unique and once again places Dubai at the forefront of development and growth in a sport that has, for too long, seen athletes not necessarily get out what their endeavours have deserved.
“World’s Ultimate Strongman was the first step, but to have a truly sustainable and thriving sport you have to have the quality athletes.”
Mark Boyd, Owner and Co-Founder of WUS added: “It’s our goal to help those up and coming talents have access to the best levels of training in order to fulfill their potential.
“Larry Wheels will be the first of many. He is an incredibly exciting talent and we are looking forward to helping him develop into a world class Strongman athlete. This will be an ongoing process, and we already have the next names in mind for the programme. We are changing the game for athletes here, and want as many to benefit as possible.”
