Who is Shane Flowers? Meet the powerlifter competing in World's Strongest Man 2025
SHANE Flowers is rapidly rising through the ranks of British strongmen, having previously slept on a barn floor while working 84-hour weeks.
The former international powerlifter is competing in World's Strongest Man 2025 — here's everything you need to know.
Advertisement
2
Shane Flowers was a powerlifter before transitioning to strongman events
Credit: https://www.instagram.com/sbdapparel/?hl=en
Who is Shane Flowers?
Standing at an impressive 6'4" and weighing in at around 153–160kg, before his Strongman career, Shane was a competitive powerlifter, representing England at international level.
His transition to strongman began during the Covid-19 lockdown, when gym closures forced him to improvise and train with heavy construction items such as bags of sand and weighted scaffolding poles.
He
Advertisement
read more on shane flowers
"With powerlifting you have to train with very specific kit and I no longer had access to that, but I wanted to carry on lifting weights.
"So I literally just bought a budget strongman kit, which was just sandbags and logs — all that kind of stuff.
"I started training on my driveway and realised I was pretty good at it."
Shane's rapid rise
Shane's ascent in the strongman world has been remarkably rapid.
Advertisement
Most read in Other Sports
Latest
After only eight months of dedicated strongman training, he won England's Strongest Man in 2021 — his debut competition.
The victory propelled him to the Giants Live circuit, where he faced off against elite competitors including the Stoltman brothers and
World's Strongest Man launches new career
In his first appearance at Britain's Strongest Man in 2022, Shane finished fourth, narrowly missing a podium spot and a direct qualification for the
He also placed in fifth at Europe's Strongest Man the same year, despite suffering a bicep injury on the final event.
Advertisement
Competition highlights
Shane has consistently delivered strong performances at major events, including:
England's Strongest Man 2021: Winner on debut
Britain's Strongest Man 2022: 4th place
Europe's Strongest Man 2022: 5th place
SCL England 2023: Winner
Giants Live World Open Deadlift Championships 2023: Podium finish with a 430 kg deadlift
2
Shane's transition to strongman began during the Covid-19 lockdown when gym closures forced him to improvise
Credit: https://www.instagram.com/sbdapparel/?hl=en
In addition to podium finishes, Shane has excelled in events such as the sandbag toss and Atlas Stones, often placing first in these disciplines.
His background in powerlifting gives him a strong foundation in static strength, while his natural athleticism and speed make him a threat in loading races and medleys.
Advertisement
Balancing work and training
Remarkably, Shane has achieved these impressive results while working long hours in the oil industry.
Only recently has he been able to reduce his work hours to focus more on training and recovery, setting up a dedicated strongman gym at home.
He explained: "I basically worked a security role on an oil farm, and I was doing upwards of 84 hours and still trying to coach and train at the same time. I was burning the candle at both ends."
Outside of competition, Shane also works as an online strength coach and maintains an active presence on social media, where he shares training insights and interacts with fans.
Advertisement
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Irish Sun
2 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
‘It's humbling' – Andy Murray admits embarrassment at being beaten by 5-year-old son in different sport
SIR ANDY MURRAY has revealed that he is regularly "humbled" by his five-year-old son as the youngster has started to beat him at a new sport. Murray, 38, may have been hoping to raise tennis' next big star, but it would appear he is developing a chess prodigy instead. 2 Andy Murray has revealed that his five-year-old son is beating him at chess Credit: PA The Scot, Murray revealed that the little one is already learning the strategic sport and is doing so well that is often getting the better of his dad. He said: "My five-year-old boy has got really into chess, which I'm really enjoying playing with him. READ MORE ON TENNIS "I'm not a particularly good chess player, but I've got quite an analytical mind and I enjoy the game and watching him learn and playing with him. "It's difficult losing to a five-year-old when in the middle of the game he's asking you to come and wipe his bum, essentially. "He's going to the toilet in the middle of the game, and then he comes back and is beating me at chess. It's humbling that, for my intelligence". Murray has had more time to spend polishing his chess game since he Most read in Sport 2 Murray recently split from coaching Novak Djokovic Credit: Reuters CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS But he has found himself a new career in the time since, The two-time Wimbledon champion has taken up a role as an associate partner at London-based investment firm Redrice Ventures. Rafael Nadal reveals Andy Murray's 18-word text message ONE second after Arsenal beat Real Madrid He told the 'I've seen it before with other athletes — when they haven't had other interests straight after sport, it becomes hard for them to know who they are. 'I'm also only 38 years old, so that's a long time to be retired. 'My plan was always to spend more time on my other business interests once I'd finished playing tennis, and I'm enjoying starting to work on some of those projects now. 'I think for me it's the work ethic and single-minded determination to succeed.' Murray previously worked with Redrice in 2018 as part of a co-investment involving sportswear company Castore. He already has several business interests including a five-star country house hotel in Scotland, a padel tennis firm and a crowdfunding platform called Seedrs. Andy Murray's career timeline SIR Andy Murray is Great Britain's most successful tennis player of the Open era. After breaking through in 2005 to reach the Wimbledon third round at 18, the Scot was British No1 by the following year. In 2008 he reached his first Grand Slam final at the US Open, only to fall to Roger Federer in straight sets. Two more final defeats at the Australian Open to Federer and Novak Djokovic followed in 2010 and 2011 before heartbreak at Wimbledon in 2012. Despite taking the first set against Federer, he fell 4-6 7-5 6-3 6-4 in front of a home crowd before breaking into tears on Centre Court. But a month later on the same court he beat the Swiss legend to earn Team GB a gold medal at the London 2012 Olympics. And weeks after that he broke his Grand Slam duck at the fifth attempt, beating Djokovic in five sets in the US Open final. In 2013, following another Australian Open final loss, Murray beat Djokovic in straight sets to become the first British man in 77 years to win the Wimbledon title. Three more losing Grand Slam finals followed, at the 2015 and 2016 Australian Opens and the 2016 French Open. But in his third Grand Slam final of 2016, Murray won Wimbledon again with a straight sets victory over Canadian Milos Raonic. He followed it up with his second Olympic gold medal, beating Juan Martin del Potro in a four-hour epic in the final in Rio de Janeiro. Later in 2016 Murray became world No1 - the first British man to do so in history. Over his career Murray reached 11 Grand Slam finals, winning three. He won two Olympic golds and a silver (in the mixed doubles alongside Laura Robson). He finishes his career with 46 titles and over £50million in earnings, making him the fourth all-time leader in earnings. His final match was at the Paris 2024 Olympics, where he lost in the quarter-final of the men's doubles at Roland Garros to USA pair Tommy Paul and Taylor Fritz.
Irish Daily Mirror
13 hours ago
- Irish Daily Mirror
GAA club selling commemorative Shane MacGowan jerseys ahead of All-Ireland clash
A GAA Club is flogging commemorative Shane MacGowan jerseys ahead of Tipperary's clash with Laois in the All-Ireland quarter finals. Priced at €54, Shannon Rovers GAA Club are selling the blue and yellow jerseys, with the late Pogues singer's face emblazoned across the bottom. In a statement on their Facebook page, Shannon Rovers GAA Club wrote: 'We have had a lot of people looking to get their hands on the Tipperary Shane MacGowan Commemorative jerseys as Tipp enter the All-Ireland series next weekend. 'Hopefully we will get a few days out in Croke Park and an opportunity to wear our commemorative jerseys. 'To answer the call, we will now be selling our jerseys in a number of locations from this Monday coming. Check out the poster for more info. "We will also have a pop up shop for one day only in Nenagh (beside Easons) on Saturday June 14th. Please note stock is limited! 'As always you can still order online through our web-shop. Alan Tynan, O' Reilly Sports and of course the Tipperary senior hurling team are showing off the commemorative jersey in the image.' Shane's sister Siobhan also backed the initiative. She recently opened up in a YouTube documentary called The Local about Shane's love for Tipperary and how Ireland 'shaped' his identity. She said Shane – who died in November 2023 – found Ireland's way of life much easier to live in. She said: 'I think if Shane would describe his connection to Nenagh in Tipperary to people that he just had loved them since he was a child like you know, I think that Shane's connection to Tipperary and Ireland in general, really shaped Shane's identity, because when we were in England, dad made it very clear to us that we were Irish. 'We weren't brought up as English, so we had a lot of Irish culture in England, even so, between music and books and the culture exposed to at home. 'But when Shane came over to Ireland, I think he really fit in. He found the way of life much easier. 'He didn't like the strictness in school, I suppose, everywhere, but the schools in England were very strict. Life was more strict, more structured, more ordered. And he actually loved the freedom of Tipperary and the easiness of the Irish people.'
The Irish Sun
13 hours ago
- The Irish Sun
Tennis fans slam BBC live coverage of Queen's after Emma Raducanu snub ahead of Wimbledon
TENNIS fans slammed the BBC for snubbing live coverage of Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter's doubles debut. The all-star British duo teamed up for the first time at Queen's in the opening grass-court event ahead of Wimbledon. Advertisement 3 Emma Raducanu and Katie Boulter played their first competitive doubles match together Credit: Getty 3 The British pairing beat Fang-Hsien Wu and Xinyu Jiang 6-4 6-2 Credit: PA But despite the BBC holding the rights to the tournament and the euphoria around tennis after yesterday's epic French Open final, they opted against spotlighting two of GB's biggest names and instead only showed the singles action on the main show court - now called the Andy Murray Arena. While Sonay Kartal, Jodie Burrage and two-time Wimbledon champ Petra Kvitova were live on TV, that meant that And their match against Fang-Hsien Wu and Xinyu Jiang was not available for British tennis fans to watch on either the red button or iPlayer. BBC presenter Isa Guha said: "Unfortunately, we won't be able to show you this match because we're focused on Andy Murray Arena, but we will be bringing you updates throughout the course of the afternoon." Advertisement READ MORE ON TENNIS But wannabe viewers were not happy. One moaned: "Errrrr you've got two Brits linking up in the doubles - don't you think that might have been of an interest to the British viewers?" Another blasted: "You have the British women 1 and 2 playing together in doubles and you're not showing it? Make it make sense!! So frustrating!!" A third added: "You just showed a clip of Court 1 where Emma and Katie are starting their match; so why not show the match as a second option or one court on iPlayer and one on BBC Two? Very frustrating!" Advertisement Most read in Tennis CASINO SPECIAL - BEST CASINO BONUSES FROM £10 DEPOSITS A fourth complained: "Literally just showed us a clip of it why can't we watch it?!!!!" A fifth fumed: "Absolutely ridiculous you're not showing Boulter/Raducanu in doubles." Katie Boulter destroys tennis star fiance Alex de Minaur in four words after newly-engaged couple lose in doubles And a final user typed: "Why isn't Court 1 on BBC iPlayer though? Can't watch Boultercanu?" Advertisement The match was Raducanu's second WTA doubles match of her career - and a first win. Quizzed if they would team up again at Wimbledon, the former US Open champion downplayed their ambitions. Advertisement "We thought about it in Madrid, Miami and Paris. 'Moving to the grass, which is a very different surface, it helps us get a feel of serving, returning and playing some points." Tennis stars' new careers PLENTY of tennis stars have stayed involved in the sport since retiring. But others pursued very different careers. Here are some of the best… I reached French Open and Wimbledon finals as a teenager but I I won Wimbledon mixed doubles with my sister but got fed up with English weather so I was tipped for stardom aged 12 but retrained to I earned £9m and won French Open before setting up I'm last Frenchman to win Roland Garros, now I'm singer with six albums hitting No1 in charts I'm former world No1 but quit aged 29 - instead I went on to play professional poker and golf I was destined for the top but swapped lobs for labs as award-winning Harvard physicist But partner Boulter interjected: 'Scrap what she said - we're going for the Wimbledon title! "No, just kidding… we haven't thought about that. Advertisement "We both return very well and have great volleys, so if one of us hits a good ball we can capitalise on that. "I'm very confident that Emma is going to put the ball away if I hit a good shot." World No37 Raducanu - who Boulter, three places higher than her partner in the WTA rankings, takes on Ajla Tomljanovic. Advertisement SunSport has contacted the BBC for comment on the snub, which comes after news that the 3 Raducanu had only played one WTA doubles match before Credit: Getty Wimbledon ditching line judges a double fault for British tennis By THE absence of line judges at Wimbledon will be a sad sight. For as long as I can remember, the men and women decked out in their Ralph Lauren outfits have been part of the furniture at the All England Club. Yes, they provided some mild entertainment on the court when one would call "fault" with plenty of extra, and unnecessary, gusto and volume that boomed around Centre Court, prompting a snigger from the fans. Then there was the ongoing game of dodgeball they had to play when a big serve nailed a mammoth ace down the line and they had to take rapid evasive action or take a whack to the top of the head. And challenges provided some audience participation, excitedly joining in the clapping countdown before the inevitable "oooh" when the graphic showed just how close the ball was to landing in or out. Purely objectively, Wimbledon's decision to replace line judges with Hawk-Eye Live makes total sense. The accuracy and consistency of calls in real-time will speed things up, save time and should mark the end of arguments over the tight incorrect calls - well, until the technology malfunctions. And Wimbledon's hand was somewhat forced to ditch tradition for their standing in tennis. The Australian Open and US Open already use electronic line calling and the ATP Tour is adopting Hawk-Eye Live across all of its tournaments from 2025. Wimbledon's refusal to comply would leave them lagging behind and exposed to the threat of needless controversy over human error. But the impact - as is so often the case in these decisions - has ramifications further down, below the surface with very little impact on Wimbledon's Championships or the players. It is on the line judges themselves. Approximately 300 officials - aged from 18 to 80 - covered more than 650 matches at Wimbledon. A fraction travel internationally with the circuit but the vast majority of those are part-time line judges based in the UK, earning up to £180 per day to work at the prestigious tournament and their chance to play their part at Wimbledon. For many, they will help out at British tournaments throughout the year, spurred on by the possibility of taking to the lawns of the All England Club. But it is understood many of those officials would be reluctant to work at the lower-level tournaments without the carrot of Wimbledon dangling in the summer. That in turn will put a major stumbling block in the pathway for British tennis umpires, who grind up through the ranks to reach the pinnacle of the sport. Like football with referees, tennis needs umpires and line judges. So the inability to call "out" at Wimbledon could prove to be a major "fault" for the future of the UK's tennis officials and therefore the state of the sport on these shores.
