Competition for the strongest man and woman in Morvan

Our competition for the strongest man in the Morvan began in 1997 in Etang sur Arroux. It started with a group of village football club officials who wanted to measure their strength by lifting sandbags.

So the competition was created and on 8 June 1997, the first edition of the Morvan Strongest Man competition took place. The participants, mainly farmers from the region and football players from the club, competed in pairs, with almost 400 spectators turning out to watch them at the municipal stadium.

Following this success, the organisers decided to pursue the idea of this strength contest, but on an individual basis to determine the strongest man in Morvan.

From 2006, at the request of the women, a competition to determine the strongest woman in Morvan was organised alongside the men. Over the years, the number of spectators has increased, reaching an average of 1,100 around 2010.

In 2014, a milestone was reached with the increase in participants thanks to social networks. At the same time, the 1500 spectator mark was passed.

From 2018 onwards, our competition has enjoyed growing success and is increasingly recognised throughout the Burgundy region and at national level.

This recognition of our competition has led to a report on the TV programme "Quotidien", the presence each year of France 3 Bourgogne Franche Comté, and the regional press (the Journal de Saône et Loire, the Journal du Centre, the Bien Public, Autun and Creusot Infos). Some written and visual reports were produced by the newspaper "Le Monde", Sparse.

Despite Covid and 2 years without a competition, the high point was reached at the last women's and men's editions in 2023, when 2000 people came to cheer on the candidates for a whole afternoon.

The values of our competition. The desire to surpass oneself, good humour and respect between the candidates. For the winner, there's nothing to win, just a different trophy each year and front-page coverage in the print and broadcast media.

For this year 2024, Sporting Club Etangois is proposing the 25th edition of the Strongest Man in Morvan and the 7th edition of the Strongest Woman in Morvan, which will take place on Sunday 09 June 2024 in Etang sur Arroux at the municipal stadium from 1pm. The men's and women's trophies will once again be unique and original. They will once again be made by Quentin Battistella (Battistella Indus) from Mesvres.