Life
Kelvin de Ruiter is a 6 ft 8 inch (2.03m), 168kg/370lb carpenter and three-time World Truck Pull Championships winner from the Netherlands who has been competing in strongman since 2011 but is very much a man on the up! He made his debut at Giants Live at Europe’s Strongest Man in 2022 having earned his spot courtesy of his overall victory at the 2021 Strongman Champions League.
Trained by the former World’s Strongest Man competitor Wout Zijlstra, who placed third in the 1998 WSM final in Tangiers, Morocco, Kelvin first noticed his talent for lifting heavy objects whilst lifting cars at the breaker’s yard he used to work in as a teenager!
Career
Kelvin, who had formerly taken part in kickboxing, entered his first strongman contest at the age of 19. He contested Netherland’s Strongest Man every year from 2011 to 2019, placing 3rd in 2014 and 2017 and improving to runner-up in 2018. In 2019 he won his first national title and managed to retain the title two years later.
His international career began in 2017 when he captured his first World Truck Pull Championship in Amman, Jordan. The following year he began competing more frequently on the Strongman Champions League circuit and in 2019 he was able to win his first national title, winning Netherland’s Strongest Man on his 9th attempt.
That year, Kelvin was able to successfully defend his World Truck Pull title in Kyiv, Ukraine, before competition opportunities dried up due to the covid-19 pandemic. In 2021, de Ruiter won Netherland’s Strongest Man for the second time, as well as his 3rd Truck Pull Championship, in Kyiv.
2021 was an excellent year for the giant Frieslander, as he was also able to win the Strongman Champions League overall world title, following a string of contest wins and victory in the grand final in Alanya, Turkey. This earnt Kelvin an invite to Giants Live’s Europe’s Strongest Man, where he finished a creditable 9th, his best single event performance coming in the carry and drag, where he placed 2nd.
Best Title
Winning the Strongman Champion’s league is arguably Kelvin’s best competitive result to date. Involving 16 contests, overall victory is dependent on consistent form year-round, not to mention a big performance in the final. Kelvin was able to take event wins in the block press and medley, on his way to the top of the podium.
Competition Results
Personal Best Lifts
Competition Lifts
Training lifts
Present Day
Kelvin continues to train every day, despite his fulltime job in preparation for the 2022 World’s Strongest Man. His goal is to continue to improve his competition results and ideally secure a sponsor so that he can turn professional and radically improve his training. Working 10 hour days, starting at 6.00am and then training is far from ideal and suggests that Kelvin has much more to offer in the sport.
Media
Kelvin_strongestman_of_holland is Kelvin’s Instagram handle, where fans can keep up with his lifting and competing. The Dutchman’s performances at Giants Live and World’s Strongest Man will also be available to watch on Channel 5, during the Christmas period.
