“Feeding Capes is rather like stoking a human furnace.”

Geoff Capes welcomed Michael Delahaye into his home back in the summer of 1976 as he prepared to participate in the shot put at the Montréal Olympics. There, he saw the stockpiles of food required to fuel Capes’ 12,000-calorie, high-protein daily diet, dutifully prepared by his wife, Jill.

Clip taken from Nationwide, originally broadcast on BBC One, Wednesday 9 June, 1976.

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38 Comments

  1. I just realized he was pressing that weights behind him. Forcefully. Made me sit up straight. Love all the comments about him I feel proud of him on behalf of his family friends and fans even though I didn't kw of him growing up in nz

  2. My uncle was a D1 college (American) football player in the 70s. Hes told me how he and all the other linemen on the team would eat like this most days during the summer practice season. He was on scholarship so the school paid for it, i cant imagine the price. Night before gamedays theyd have all you can eat spaghetti to load up on carbs for the game. Hed eat 3 full plates and a bunch of garlic bread sticks. Hes in his late 60s now and still healthy as a horse bc he managed to eat more sensibly after his athletic career was over. Most of the others like him continued to eat big after sports and became obese and died young of heart disease and what not.

  3. He lived until 2024, passed at age 75. Probably loved longer than most because he stayed off the Gear. He and Jill divorced in 1982, 6 years after this report.

  4. Mr Capes was a national treasure. My late dad used to train with him not to Britain strongest capacity but oit of fitness… all round diamond bloke..

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