Mark Henry

Mark Henry is married to Jana. He has a son Jacob and daughter Joanna. Currently, he lives in Austin, Texas.

Mark Henry was born on June 12, 1971, in Silsbee, Texas. His father, Ernest Henry, died when Mark was just 12 years of age. Two years later, he was diagnosed with dyslexia.

Since an early age, Mark Henry was fond of wrestling. He idolized Andre the Giant. Mark Henry grew up to be a tall, strong and sturdy man. At the age of 18, he was called ‘World’s Strongest Teenager’ by LA Times.

He started powerlifting since his Silsbee High School days. In 1990, he won the National High School Powerlifting Championships. By the time, he finished school, he was a three-time Texas state champion with state and national records in all four powerlifting categories, squat at 832 lb, bench press at 525 lb, deadlift at 815 lb and the total at 2,033 lb.

Mark Henry’s amazing talent was soon spotted by Terry Todd who took him to Austin. There, he received training in Olympic style weightlifting. In just eight months of training, he broke four national junior records. In 1991, he won the US National Junior Championship and the International Junior Powerlifting Championship.

Within a year, Mark Henry reached the pinnacle of success in weightlifting on a National and continental level. He won several weightlifting competitions, thus cementing his dominance at the sport.

He competed in powerlifting as well and won numerous titles. He became ADFPA US National Powerlifting Champion in 1995, defeating 5 time IPF World Powerlifting Champion and 12 time USAPL National Powerlifting Champion Brad Gillingham.

He outperformed America's Strongest Man of 1997 Mark Philippi. He also set two world records, in the raw deadlift at 903.9 lbs and the squat without a squat suit at 948.0 lbs. He improved this record after every competition.

At the age of 24, Henry was acknowledged as the Strongest Man in the World. No one in the history of the sports had ever lifted as much as he did in the five competitive lifts, the snatch and the clean and jerk in weightlifting and the squat, bench press and deadlift in powerlifting. Till date, he is known as History’s Greatest Lifter.

His win at the 1996 US National Weightlifting Championships helped him secure a place at the 1996 Summer Olympics. At 6”4’, he became the largest athlete in Olympic history. However, a back injury dampened his game. Henry later announced it to be his last official competition in Olympic weightlifting.

Mark Henry’s record breaking achievements and feats in powerlifting and weightlifting made him immensely popular. The overwhelming popularity brought him to the notice of WWE owner Vince McMahon, who offered Henry a 10-year contract as professional wrestler which he signed.

Before making an end to his lifting career, Henry broke several records. He became the youngest man in history to squat more than 900 pounds without a squat suit, the youngest to total more than 2,300 pounds raw and the only person to accomplish these feats under 25 years of age.