Dubai Sports Council (DSC), in collaboration with the World’s Ultimate Strongman, has launched the WUS Incubator Programme – a training programme to take athletes with potential and turn them into world beaters.
Some of the biggest stars in strength sports are coming to Dubai to take part in the new initiative to develop a new breed of strongmen, state news agency WAM reported.
The announcement about the initiative was made on Monday by Saeed Hareb, secretary-general of DSC, in the presence of Hafthor Bjornsson, winner of the World’s Ultimate Strongman title in Dubai last October and Larry Wheels, the first recruit of the WUS Incubator programme.
Based in Dubai, the programme will see athletes from all over the world travel for an opportunity to elevate their level of performance to compete with the best on the planet.
Hareb said: “With Dubai being the new home of Strongman after the hugely successful World’s Ultimate Strongman last year, launching this innovative WUS Incubator Programme here is a natural progression.
“We are confident we will see many strongmen come through this Incubator Programme in the coming months and years.”
The first athlete to take part in the WUS Incubator Programme is Wheels, an American, who is a social media sensation with more than 1.2 million followers across his YouTube and Instagram channels.
At just 24 years of age and with very little proper lifting training behind him, Wheels is already producing incredible feats of strength.
He is routinely lifting over 800lbs on his squat, 850lb on deadlift and more than 600lb on his bench press.
He recently took part in his first amateur strongman competition in Los Angeles, placing second.
Wheels will arrive in Dubai this month and stay for six weeks, before heading off to take part in the World Log Lift Challenge. He will be joined for the first two weeks of his stay by Bjornsson – known to millions around the world as The Mountain from Game of Thrones.
WUS founder Mark Boyd said: “The WUS Incubator is a unique addition to the world of strongman, and it is only fitting it takes place in Dubai – the city that is leading the way when it comes to the sport’s development.
“We want to give athletes with potential the training, knowledge and knowhow to help them on the path to becoming the best in the world.
“Whilst in Dubai, they will be in the perfect training environment, with top level coaching, and expertise to maximise nutrition and recovery.”
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