Tony Farrugia
 Tony "The Strongman" Farrugia | |
| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Nationality |  Maltese |
| Alma mater | University of Malta |
| Height | 6 ft 0 in (183cm) |
| Weight | 273 lb (124kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Strongman |
Tony "The Strongman" Farrugia is a performing strongman from the Mediterranean island of Malta who performs feats of strength shows to raise money for charity.[1]
Early life
Tony would spend his early years growing up in the United Kingdom attending infant, primary and secondary school there. Tony's parents would decide to move back to Malta when he was just a teenager in his final year of secondary school. From a young age Tony was inspired by the stories of his Grandfather who possessed abnormal strength and was a well known stone lifter from Valletta, Malta. Tony achieved academically at a young age acquiring a total of 14 Ordinary Levels, 9 Intermediate Levels and 10 Advanced Levels. In later years Tony went on to graduate from the University of Malta with a Bachelor of Arts in English and History.[2]
Training
Tony's training methods are unconventional using heavy objects that he finds outdoors such as stones, cars, logs, skips, fridge freezers,[3] washing machines among other things.[4] Tony has stated that his main training method is the ancient art of stone lifting, this he says was passed down to him from his Grandfather who was a revered stone lifter in Malta. Tony has also stated on many occasions that he has hardly ever trained in commercial gyms as he prefers to train outdoors with what he can find. Tony's other training methods include bending steel objects such as nails, spanners, frying pans, horse shoes and rebars. In addition to this training Tony also trains his forearms by ripping books, telephone directories and decks of cards. Tony is a strong opponent of the use of performance enhancing drugs in all sports. He has stated that he is a lifelong natural athlete that has never taken performance enhancing drugs.[5]
Career
Tony began his performing strongman career in 2015 when he performed at a Puttinu Cares charity event at Hal Safi airfield to help raise money for children suffering with cancer.[6] Farrugia performed at several more events for Puttinu Cares during 2016 before teaming up with the legendary Maltese strongman Paul Grima better known as Mr. Cool.[7] The strongman charity team Tony & Cool was then set up during late 2016. This team consisted of the strongman duo Tony and Mr. Cool performing together to help raise funds for charity.[8] Tony and Mr. Cool went on to perform multiple times for various different charities during the latter part of 2016.[9][10] In October 2016 Tony made a solo performance at a Gymkhana event in Mosta organised by the Maltese stunt driving team called Team Maximum Lock.[11][12] In December 2016 while performing at a charity show in Zurrieq[13] Tony managed to flip over a car weighing 1,950lb (885kg).[14]
In the beginning of 2017 Tony and Mr. Cool were invited on the Maltese television show Xarabank to perform a series of feats of strength with both Tony and Mr. Cool being recorded in the Malta Records for their respective feats. During this performance Tony managed to squat lift a car with 5 people inside and hold it up for one whole minute. Throughout 2017 Tony performed every month and sometimes more than once a month with Mr. Cool at various charity events around the Maltese islands.[15][16][17][18][19] In June 2017 Tony was featured in Unconventional Athletes magazine an international fitness and sports magazine.[20] During a charity show performance for ALS Malta[21] in August 2017 both Tony and Mr. Cool managed to pull a water bowser truck trailer.[22][23][24]
In 2018 Tony continued to perform every month with his teammate Mr. Cool.[25][26][27][28][29][30][31] During June 2018 Tony was featured in a Maltese rap music video called "Storja fil-Memorja" performed by Maltese rap artist Achilles Caestus.[32]
In 2019 Tony continued to perform with Mr. Cool in various charity shows[33][34][35][36][37] until June 2019 when Mr. Cool unfortunately had a serious accident falling from a high ladder. After this Tony still continued to perform on his own monthly at a number of different charity events. Tony was interviewed in September 2019 by the strongman John "The Viking" Mouser on his podcast series "Get Strong or Die!".[38] In October 2019 during a charity show for Puttinu Cares Tony would manage to pull two trucks simultaneously.[39][40][41] During late 2019 Mr. Cool recovered from his serious injuries and was able to rejoin Tony in performing together at several different charity events.[42][43]
During 2020 Tony and Mr. Cool auditioned for the first ever season of Malta's Got Talent.[44] Unfortunately for Tony an illness in his family prevented him from performing on the show despite passing the untelevised audition with his teammate Mr. Cool. Despite this setback Mr. Cool went on to perform on his own on Malta's Got Talent.[45] In 2020 Tony was unable to perform for charity due to restrictions on all charity events because of the Corona virus pandemic.
In September 2021 Tony appeared on Ragnar Ciantar's new show called il Podkast where he talked about his life and shows as a performing strongman for charity.[46] In December 2021 Tony performed at the Hotline Whips Car Show Vol.1 in aid of Dar Bjorn.[47] This was Tony's first charity performance after a two-year hiatus from performing due to the Corona virus restrictions in Malta which had prevented him from performing to large crowds.
During May 2022 Tony performed at a charity event in aid of Dar Bjorn at Malta's National Aquarium organised by the American Auto Club Malta.[48] Then in June 2022 Tony performed with his teammate Mr. Cool at a charity event at MDRA Hal-Far Raceway organised by It's All About Trucks in aid of Puttinu Cares.[49] This was the first time the strongman duo had performed together in over two years, mainly due to the Corona virus pandemic.[50]
References
- ↑ "Is This Malta's Strongest Man?". Lovin Malta. August 22, 2016.
- ↑ "June 2018 by Vida Magazine - Issuu". issuu.com.
- ↑ "Muscle man makes short shrift of heavy fridge as tourists stare". Times of Malta.
- ↑ says, Log in to Reply My Panel of Experts-garagegymmagazine (November 28, 2016). "James Fuller: Old School Lifting For Health".
- ↑ "Steroids, genetics, and other cop outs". July 29, 2017.
- ↑ "Plane pulls for Hospice and Puttinu Cares". Times of Malta.
- ↑ "UMANI STORJA TA' MR COOL" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ Magazine, Vida (June 20, 2018). "Real Life Supermen".
- ↑ "WIRJA TA' SAĦĦA BARRANIJA MINN MR COOL U TONY 'THE STRONGMAN'" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ Borg, Matthew (December 27, 2016). "Filmat: Saħħa barranija f'dirgħajh…u f'qalbu".
- ↑ "Team Maximum Lock - Drift/Stunt Experience, Prospeed Parts, Naggar Street, Mosta (2022)". www.autoyas.com.
- ↑ "Precision Driving". Team Maximum Lock.
- ↑ "PressReader.com - Digital Newspaper & Magazine Subscriptions". www.pressreader.com.
- ↑ "Flipping a 885kg (1951lbs) car for a children's charity!" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "FILMAT: Se jqatta' l-kotba b'idu u jiġbor il-flus għall-Puttinu Cares". March 10, 2017.
- ↑ https://www.one.com.mt/news/2017/03/10/ghala-ddecieda-jisfrakassa-ktieb-u-kif-se-tghin-lit-tfal-bil-kancer/
- ↑ Attard, Charmaine (February 28, 2017). "Filmat: Jekk tivvutalu tkun qed tgħin lil Puttinu Cares".
- ↑ "Tony Farrugia and Mr Cool Mellieha March 2017" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Puttinu Cares 2017 Feats of Strength" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Unconventional Athletes Issue 11". yumpu.com.
- ↑ "Home". ALS Malta.
- ↑ Vassallo, Alvin (August 27, 2017). "Filmat: Jiġbdu bowser u jgħaffeġ taġen għal Puttinu Cares".
- ↑ Vella, minn Rachel. "Filmat: Fl-età ta' 67 Mr Cool jiġbed bowser għal Puttinu".
- ↑ Vella, Rachel. "VIDEO: At the age of 67 Mr Cool tows bowser to raise funds for Puttinu Cares".
- ↑ "Wirjiet ta' karozzi u saħħa b'risq il-fondazzjoni Alive".
- ↑ "WATCH: Maltese Strongman Takes On Unsuspecting Skip To Battle Cancer". Lovin Malta. April 16, 2018.
- ↑ "Qasmulu kantun fuq sidru".
- ↑ "Iktar minn 290 parteċipant għal attività b'risq il-Fondazzjoni Alive f'Ħaż-Żabbar". April 27, 2018.
- ↑ "Nhar il-Ħadd li ġej tinsewx iż-Żabbar Autofest - ONE". April 27, 2018.
- ↑ "Watch: Little finger enough to lift full gas cylinder". Times of Malta.
- ↑ "Stunt Bike Riding and Tony and Cool Show Ta Qali Apr 2018" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Achilles ft.SonicJ - Storja fil-Memorja" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ Borg, Coryse (March 14, 2019). "Charity event by motorsport enthusiasts".
- ↑ "Another huge charity event by Motorsport enthusiasts on 31st March - The Malta Independent". www.independent.com.mt.
- ↑ "Nhar il-Ħadd edizzjoni oħra taż-Żabbar Autofest 2019". May 10, 2019.
- ↑ "Wirjiet ta' karozzi u saħħa b'risq Puttinu - ONE". May 10, 2019.
- ↑ Borg, Coryse (May 8, 2019). "Shows minn Tony Farrugia u Mr Cool nhar il-Ħadd".
- ↑ Mouser, John (September 27, 2019). "Get Strong or Die! – S3/Ep10 – Tony Farugla". Mouser Strength Dynamics.
- ↑ "WATCH: OMG! This Maltese dude pulled TWO TRUCKS just by using his body strength". www.guidememalta.com.
- ↑ "Holy smokes! Local strongman carries these heavy items with his PINKY FINGERS". www.guidememalta.com.
- ↑ https://foreignandeu.gov.mt/en/Government/MLA/Documents/E-Newsletters/Adelaide/NEWS347.pdf
- ↑ Zammit, Frederick (November 27, 2019). "Milied fil-Misraħ b'risq Puttinu".
- ↑ "Pro Wrestling in Milied fil-Misrah". December 17, 2019.
- ↑ Urpani, David Grech (July 12, 2020). "13 Contestants We Want To See On The Malta's Got Talent Stage". Lovin Malta.
- ↑ "Local Ironman is TOO STRONG to handle" – via www.youtube.com.
- ↑ "Il-Podkast - Intervista' ma' Tony Farrugia Strongman by Il-Podkast". Anchor.
- ↑ Vella, Sasha (December 8, 2021). "Cars For Charity: Check Out Today's Car Show In Aid Of Dar Bjorn". Lovin Malta.
- ↑ https://talk.mt/ritratti-wirja-ta-vetturi-amerikani-fil-qawra/
- ↑ https://talk.mt/ara-wirja-ta-trakkijiet-fhal-far-brisq-puttinu/
- ↑ https://talk.mt/nemmen-li-persuna-li-titharreg-bla-ma-tabbuza-ma-tmut-qatt/
Category:Lists of Maltese people
Category:21st-century philanthropists
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