Cees de Vreugd


Cees de Vreugd, also known as "Kees de Vreugd" was a butcher, strongman and powerlifter from Katwijk, Netherlands. He finished third at the World's Strongest Man games in 1985.
After competing in soccer in his youth, De Vreugd started weightlifting very late at the age of 29 in 1981. In 1982 he began competing as a powerlifter, and won the Dutch National Championships in 1983. De Vreugd won the IPF World Powerlifting Championships in the +125 kg class in 1985. De Vreugd was the first European to total 2,200 lb in powerlifting in 1985, including a 927 lb squat. Later that year he made a total of 1002,5 kg which was the Dutch record for 32 years. The squat earlier in 1985 still stands as the Dutch record in May 2019.
De Vreugd competed at 6 ft 1 in and approximately 311 lb during his strongman career.

Death

In 1998 De Vreugd died of a heart attack. De Vreugd is buried at a cemetery named Duinrust, located in Katwijk aan Zee.

Honours