News Talk 94.1/AM 1600 Where The Upper Cumberland Talks
Tennessee Tech Rugby Coach and Cookeville native Cody Lindsey won The World Strength Games in Orlando.
Lindsey said that the win comes after many weeks of preparing himself both mentally and physically. Lindsey said that the key to his success was keeping his mind focused on his goals and going through the competition with a plan. Lindsey said that he was especially surprised by the win as he competed after just recovering from an illness.
“I got E. coli a few weeks ago and it just ruined my performance,” Lindsey said. “I came in there with my head kind of down, not really thinking I was going to win, but I just did what I needed to. I played chess while everyone else was playing checkers, and just kind of winged my way through it.”
Lindsey said his success comes from the preparation for the event in all the ways other than heavy weightlifting. Lindsey says that he has his strict diet and recovery workout routine to thank for being prepared.
Lindsey said that he is proud of the positive impact his win has made on Tennessee Tech students and Cookeville.
“I’ve had numerous students already come up to me, shake my hand, and say ‘good job,’” Lindsey said. “I hope eventually once I do keep going eventually the school will recognize me. I know the mayor and the mayor of the county put me on their Facebook page.”
Lindsey said that he began formulating a strategy as to how he was going to navigate the event as soon as he arrived. He said that as he watched the other lifters he noticed that they couldn’t reach his 435-kilogram max deadlift. Lindsey said after securing his first-place position by winning the deadlift, the name of the game was staying on top.
“My big strategy was, just make sure that as soon as I was ahead of people, just made sure that I beat the people that I needed to,” Lindsey said. “I was seven points ahead of second place, second place was six points ahead of third place, so what I did was just make sure that I did not lose to the second place guy again.”
Lindsey said that his ultimate dream which he’s still working towards is to earn the title of World Strongest Man. Lindsey said that he hopes that his win can help show those struggling that hard work can pay off despite obstacles.
