The village of Columbus Grove houses a world record holder.
Steve Schmidt is a Columbus Grove Resident and the world record holder for the block press. On Saturday, January 23rd, Steve competed in Mammoth Strength Challenge V in Bowling Green, Kentucky. He lifted a block that weighed approximately 370.6 pounds, a new world record.
But before the competition, Steve faced a tough road. To prepare for the event, he enacted a 10-week training regiment. However, he faced a setback during an intense training day.
"After the first 10, I was having so much elbow pain that I got an X-ray and I had a fracture," said Steve. "I didn't think that I could do the show."
Steve then contracted COVID-19. Combined with the elbow fracture, he was out of his training regimen for a total of eight weeks.
Steve's father was also in the hospital. One day, Steve received a notification that he did not expect.
"He ended up passing away on Monday, and the show was that weekend," Steve explained. "I was like there was no way I can go. Then I talked to my mom and brother about it, and they said 'No, I think you should go'."
Steve did follow his family's advice and competed in the competition. He as well as two other competitors went for a 360.4 block lift, with each getting three turns to complete. All three completed the lift, each setting the record which was previously held by Steve himself at 355.
Steve still had one attempt left. He decided to up the stakes and added 10 pounds to the block.
Steve then lifted the 370.6 block, setting the world record.
"To not get the training in that I really wanted to, and coming off an injury and then with my dad passing... there was a lot of emotions going on and the moments afterwards were pretty surreal," Steve stated.
And being from Columbus Grove, Steve says he carries with him an extra sense of pride setting world records.
"You know I've been to Russia, Canada, and about everywhere in the United States and I always take a lot of pride in that."
Steve runs a gym called Savage Barbell in his garage, where he has worked with clients one on one or in small groups to help them hit their personnel goals.
