1984 was an eventful year the world community.
Michael Jackson won album of the year with Thriller,
Vanessa Williams became miss America but later to resign due to some nude photos. Apple introduces the user-friendly Macintosh personal computer. But for Iceland the small nation in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean there is nothing more memorable than when Jon Pall Sigmarsson won the strongest man in the world competition. People rushed to the streets to hug the next door neighbor, the dogs barked with happiness and the children imitated the muscles of Jon Pall. The feeling then was that Iceland had grown a lot bigger over night, Icelanders are the strongest in the world but only two years prior they had the most beautiful woman in the world. This was it, the winning moment.
Jon Pall won the title four times in total but the Miss World was only allowed to compete one time, what a shame, she was not even allowed to defend her title, not like she got ugly in just one year.
Jon Pall was a character in Iceland, very common with the locals and loved kids. He was always joking around and was a regular guest on talk shows. He was famous for his one liners in the muscle sports. When he won the strongest man in the world held in Sweden 1984 he said about Geoff Capes “The king has lost his Crown” and got a cheer from the crowd. However in Iceland he is most famous for his rhymed sentence “Þetta er ekkert mál fyrir Jón Pál” which is translated into “No problem for John Paul”.
He died at the age of 32 while working out in the gym. There was a history of heart problems in his family that was the cause of his death. He was a memorable character that shaped a whole nation, every one knew him and loved him. If you walk on the street and ask any Icelander about Jon Pal you would probably get a small glimpse into the past when every single Icelander rushed to the street to hug the next door neighbor to celebrate the world strongest man in 1984, that wonderful year in Icelandic history.
here you can read more about Jón Páll Sigmarsson on his official site survivingiceland.com/HS