Cyprien-Noé Cyr, son of a French-Canadian family, was born October 11, 1863 in St. Cyprien in Napierville, near Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is about 12 when he started to work in a kind of mill and a farm, where power and abilities drew the attention of other workers. In relation to his family, his mother, with 120 kilos, had a height of approximately 1.85 meters and her father, with 118 kilos, an impressive 1.92 meters tall. Despite discussions about its proportions, one can say that Cyr did not inherit the height his mother and grandfather, but rather, with an average height of 1.75 to 1.78, weighed about 132 kilos. On the paternal side, his grandfather Pierre Cyr, was also a Strongman, Cyr incentive also during his youth. Is 17 years old when he began his career as Strongman, at 18 he enters his first contest in which he raised a horse from the ground successfully. Cyr is in 1882 when he married a girl named Melina Courtois, obtaining at that time working as a lumberjack but later became a policeman in 1883. The troupe Cyr, was the name of his own show, where he produced impressive demonstrations of strength and where it began to be more known for his work with the public and his skill as a man who would be the strongest of Canada. In 1885 he quit his job as a police officer and began a tour with a band together with other athletes (tour organized by Gustave Lambert). In 1886 Cyr wins the title of "Canada's Strongest Man", beating David Michaud (who was then the strongest man in the country) in a match that up with one hand Cyr bar 98 kilos and 1075 kilos on his back. In 1888 Cyr, buy a tavern where he also acts of force for their clients. But his aim was to demonstrate his strength against the world and be the strongest man. Throughout his life was involved in several shows of Vaudeville and toured Canada, United States and in Europe where not having found a rival who wants to challenge him and then with a reputation second to none, Louis Cyr leaves no doubt about who was the strongest man in the world.
http://www.ledevoir.com/2005/03/26/images/cyr_260305.jpg
In 1912, at age 49 Louis Cyr died due to what is currently known as chronic nephritis. Despite being an athlete's strength was not careful with the amount of food ingested and hence its weight, and this led to an unhealthy situation for which he had to leave the environment of competition and demonstrations force in 1900. Undoubtedly, Cyr was an extremely important person in the history of force and his country, where today the reputation of French-Canadian lifters is flawless. A district of Montreal is named in honor of Louis Cyr. Today there is a statue of Cyr at the Place des Hommes-Forts "and" the Musée de la Civilisation "in the city of Quebec.
by Robert Pelletier
Among his most famous acts of force can be noted for having built a platform on his back with 18 people, lifting a finger, if one finger 227 kilos. Cyr was also broke the record of Sandow lifting in bent press 124 kilos. But one of his most famous acts undoubtedly was to control the pull of four horses, two on each side clinging to his arms.
Additional Bibliography: Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online
