Meet the 34-Year-Old Mechanic-Turned-Strongman Beast Making History at the Arnold Classic 2023

Although bodybuilding is a famous sport worldwide, there are a number of nations that are still struggling to bring their bodybuilders on the world map. However, recently, Liberia took a revolutionary step by arranging for its strongest man Thomas Soko Benjamin, to participate in the Arnold Classic Strongman event. In Liberian history, Benjamin aka No Fear will go down as the first person to participate in an Arnold Classic event.

Fans will see No Fear participate in the Arnold Strongman Classic on 3rd March. The strongman event is an offshoot of the Arnold Sports Festival dated from 2 to 5 March 2023. Let’s check out the journey he had from Liberia to the Arnold Classic 2023!

No Fear found his love for weightlifting in 2018

Born in Clara Town, Monrovia on 13 March 1988, Thomas Soko Benjamin was a mechanic initially. By 2018, he developed an interest in weightlifting. He was highly inspired by gymnasium coach, Mr. Leo Miller at Lion’s Heart gym. Eventually, Benjamin began devoting time to the sport with a vision to become the strongest man in Liberia. He even won many strongman competitions in the country. His motivation to become the best at a time when there were stronger competitors in Liberia made him rename himself as ‘No Fear’.

As per a report by Front Page Africa Online, his career took a massive boost when he met Mr. Emmanuel Payne, the President of the Liberia Strongman Federation while training at UNMIL Gym in Monrovia. Payne revealed the directions to register for the 2021 Liberia Strongman Competition. No Fear was restless to participate in the championship. He gathered the courage and motivation to win it after achieving second place that year.

Things worked in his favor as he received the opportunity to represent South Africa at the Africa Strongest Man Competition through Liberia Strongman Federation. Although he achieved the sixth position there, he was qualified to participate in the Liberia Strongest Man championship title in 2022/2023.

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He won the championship and eventually got invited to participate in the Arnold Classic Strongman event in Columbus, Ohio, USA.

No Fear in Arnold Classic Strongman

Undoubtedly, No Fear made quite an amazing impression on the Liberian fitness circuit. It helped him to pave his way to the Arnold Classic Strongman. It was Junda Morris, the founder of the Liberia Strongman competition who convinced the organizers of the Arnold Strongman Event to allow West African nations the opportunity to showcase their strongman talent. Moreover, he will be competing against Shane Darrow, Philip Brinkman, Reed Tompkins, and Benjamin Eisenmemger.

Junda Morris told Front Page Africa about her vision with No Fear’s participation in the event, “We are hoping that No Fear competes at a high level. We will also use this opportunity to network with various counties competing and try to network with international fitness brands.” Nevertheless, she also revealed that he will participate in the amateur 231 Max Kg Category.

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Are you excited to watch No Fear perform?