Laurence Shahlaei Beats Terry Holland and becomes Britain's Strongest Man

Terry Hollands Vs Laurence Shahlaei Britain's Strongest Man competition 2012.

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 event is the farmer's walk because it is a good test of natural strength, whereas his least favourite strongman event is the Atlas stones.[citation needed] Shahlaei has said that he admires Bill Kazmaier and Vasyl Virastyuk for their intensity and belief in themselves, qualities he seeks to emulate, and that he believes the greatest strength athlete of all time is Zydrunas Savickas.[citation needed]

Laurence competed in World's Ultimate Strongman in Dubai at the Bab al-Shams Arena in October 2018.

Hollands career as a strongman began in 2005, coming second at the 2005 England's Strongest Man and first at the 2005 UK's Strongest Man contests.

In 2006 he lost his UK title to Glenn Ross but turned his attention to the Britain's Strongest Man competition.

In 2006 Hollands qualified for the 2006 World's Strongest Man competition, although he did not qualify for the finals. In 2007 he took the title of Britain's Strongest Man and went on to finish third at the 2007 World's Strongest Man, the first time a British competitor had achieved a top 3 place in over 10 years.

The 2008 Britain's Strongest Man saw Hollands conceding his title to Jimmy Marku, coming second overall. However, in the 2008 World's Strongest Man contest he still made the final coming second in his qualifying heat. In the final he placed last out of the ten finalists.[6]

Hollands improved on this finish in the 2009 World's Strongest Man coming sixth overall. 2010 was a mixed year for Hollands. A series of strong performances and podium finishes in the Strongman Champions League, including a win in Ireland(tied w/Zydrunas Savickas), was derailed by serious injury, when he tore his biceps in the Europe's Strongest Man contest in June.[7] So strong had the early season been that Terry was still crowned the 2010 SCL overall champion on 18 December 2010.[8] His return from the biceps injury was rapid and Hollands was able to compete at the 2010 World's Strongest Man contest where he made the final for the fifth consecutive year, and finished in 8th place.[9] In 2011 he achieved a podium finish in the competition for the second time, placing 3rd, but in 2012 another biceps injury saw him withdraw from the final.

Hollands is one of only five British men to have been on the podium at World's Strongest Man.[citation needed] In the 2014 edition, he became the only man to have qualified for the final in nine consecutive years.

On 4 September 2015 he played rugby for England against the Rest of the World in a charity fundraising match.

In October 2018, Hollands appeared in a series of YouTube videos with 4 Time WSM Brian Shaw where he and Shaw purchased food from Costco, cooked it, and engaged in conversation in Shaw's gym.[10]

In November 2019, Hollands won the 2019 World's Strongest Man Masters competition held at the Official Strongman Games in Daytona, Florida