Cyr was born in St. Cyprien de Napierville in Quebec, Canada. Cyr entered his first strongman competition at the age of seventeen against the reigning Canadian strongman, Michaud of Quebec City. In this competition he lifted a granite boulder reported to have weighed over 400 pounds. Cyr never backed down from a challenge and was undefeated in Canada and abroad. His fame was earned before accurate records were kept and before weight lifting was included among Olympic events.
While several of Cyr’s feats of strength have been exaggerated over the years, some were documented and remain impressive. These included lifting a platform on his back holding 18 men, lifting a 500-pound weight with his finger and pushing a freight car up an incline. Perhaps his greatest feat occurred in 1895, when he was reported to have lifted 4,337 pounds on his back. One of Cyr's most-talked about stunts occurred on 1891-12-10, in Montreal. On that occasion he restrained four horses—two pulling in each direction.
In The Strongest Man in History, Ben Weider says that Cyr’s records remain “uncontested and incontestable.” He died of chronic nephritis.
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