Our Someone 2 Know is part of an elite group of men considered the biggest in strength sports (they pull airplanes, trains and buses – for fun).
Travis Ortmayer started body building in his early teens and went on to win power-lifting competitions all over the world.
Then about ten years ago, he says he made choices that took him down the road to hell and back.
Now he's back with purpose; healthy and strong again, this week he's vying for a chance to be crowned the World's Strongest Man 2021.
We met up with Ortmayer at Reno’s American Iron Gym, where he was getting in his final conditioning days before heading to Sacramento for the competition.
It was all about weights - and more weights; working up to 405 lbs. to train for that perfect squat, or a 200-pound dumbbell to finally nail a one arm lift.
This is what professional athlete Travis Ortmayer calls a "light" day as he prepares to compete at World's Strongest Man 2021; “It’s my eighth world championship. I went seven years in a row until 2011 and now a decade later, I’m going back”.
Ortmayer's story is bitter sweet...
“I started my weight lifting journey when I was 11 years old,” as he got older and stronger he started competing and soon got his dad to do the same.
Travis says when he discovered Strongman competitions at the age of 20, he was hooked; “The most fun I’d ever had in my entire life. I would dream bout it every night until the next one”
Ortmayer traveled the world, breaking records, and wowing crowds. Then, a series of events - and admittedly bad choices, sent Ortmayer on a downward spiral; “I had broken my ankle half way through the final in 2010 World's Strongest Man”
He finished 5th, but was soon hooked on opioid painkillers. Then, Travis says, the real hurt came when his wife left him and took their little boy;
“She moved back to England with him, and that was on November 25th 2012, it was the absolute worse day of my life”
And then says Travis, the real nightmare began; when someone he knew “...Introduced me to crystal meth. That week turned into 4 years”
Ortmayer says during that time he lost all his muscle - everything
“I was, I was weak as a kitten”
Weak physically and emotionally. Ortmayer says he came face to face with the devil; “I looked back and I said I wasn't finished yet”
He quit the drugs and says he clawed his way out of the darkness. By 2016 Travis was training again and this year was invited back to World's Strongest Man.
And while winning is nice, Ortmayer says it’s the international recognition from the televised competition that he seeks. His real goal is to let his son know he's looking for him; “It's big in England, he'll see it in England and I want him to know his dad loves him and his dad did not forget about him”.
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The World's Strongest Man 2021 takes place June 15-20 in Sacramento, CA. Click link for more details on when, where and how to watch it; https://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/
As for recovery from his drug addiction, Travis says he fought that and the subsequent depression and anxiety by finding one thing every day to be grateful for - on day one, it was his feet.
If you or someone you know needs help with mental health or addiction, please, see below:
NEVADA 211
A program of the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services, is committed to helping Nevadans connect with the services they need.
Call 2-1-1 or 1-866-535-5654
https://www.nevada211.org/addiction-services/
CRISIS SUPPORT SERVICES OF NEVADA
CALL 1 (800) 273-8255 TEXT CARE TO 839863
SAMHSA’s National Helpline: 1-800-662-HELP (4357)
Call the NAMI Helpline at 800-950-NAMI
Or in a crisis,
text "NAMI" to 741741
