British shot putter and discus thrower
Carl Myerscough (born 21 October 1979) is an English former track and field athlete specialised in shot put and discus throw[2] and a world record holder grip strength specialist.[3] His imposing height of 208 cm (6 ft 10 in) earned him the nickname 'The Blackpool Tower'.
Biography
Track and field
While competing for the University of Nebraska Carl gained two indoor (2002–03) and two outdoor (2003-04) NCAA Division 1 championships. He graduated from the University of Nebraska in 2004, with a degree in Fine Art[4] and won the UK championships in the shot put ten times consecutively from 2003 to 2012. He also competed in four IAFF World Championships.
In 2002 Commonwealth Games in Manchester, Carl won bronze in the Shot put. In 2003, he exceeded the British record with a best of 21.92m set in winning the NCAA championships in Sacramento, California, although the performance was not ratified by UK Athletics.[2] In 2004, he won the European Cup in Bydgoszcz, Poland with a throw of 20.85m. In 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi Carl won bronze in the discus throw.
During Carl's early career, he failed a drug test which resulted in a ban from competing for two years.[5] The ban was subsequently overturned by the Court of Arbitration for Sport and in 2012, Carl became an Olympian by taking part in the 2012 Summer Olympics in London.[6][1]
Grip strength
Carl was introduced to IronMind Captains of Crush hand grippers when he was a student at the University of Nebraska, and he managed to closed the No. 2.5 gripper the first time he attempted it.[3] After retiring from track and field in 2016, Carl dedicated four months into grip training and in 2017 got himself certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3 gripper.[7] He continued to progress and in 2018, got certified on the Captains of Crush No. 3.5 gripper.[8] In August 2023, he became the sixth person ever to get certified on the Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper, and the only person to do it after the introduction of its credit card rule.[9][3]
In September 2023, Carl made history again by closing a 256 RGC rated Gillingham High Performance (GHP) level 10 gripper. He is the only person in history to accomplish this seemingly impossible feat of crush grip strength and it remains the strongest gripper ever closed by a human.[10] For reference, Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper he closed was calibrated at 215 RGC (by Cannon Powerworks) which means GHP 10 he closed is nearly 20% more difficult than his CoC 4 close[note 1] while the narrower GHP block (38mm) vs. the IronMind credit card (54mm) improves the starting leverage.
Carl is also a 3 x times Arnold Classic Armlifting Champion, and one among handful of people who have lifted the Millennium Dumbbell. He has broken more than 20 grip related word records and is renowned for his exceptional grip strength[11] with feats ranging from launching a 'York Legacy Blob' which weighs 3 times as heavy as a standard Olympic shot, to crushing raw potatoes from his bare hand into pieces.
Personal life
Carl is married to the American athlete Melissa Price. They have two daughters: Mia and Grace.
Notes:
- ^ a b "When we built the Level 10, I never really thought anyone would close it. It's so far past the level of strength of a CoC 4 or the GHP 9 that it's really hard to believe anyone's hand would be strong enough to handle the pressure".
- Wade Gillingham, founder of Gillingham High Performance (GHP) grippers.
Great Britain
