Editing Geoff Capes (section)

==Early life==
Capes was born on 23 August 1949 in [[Holbeach]], Lincolnshire, the seventh of nine children.<ref name="Sons">David Webster, ''Sons of Samson Volume 2 Profiles'', page 78 (Ironmind Enterprises), {{ISBN|0-926888-06-4}}</ref> He weighed {{Convert|12.4|lb|kg}} at birth.<ref name=":12"/> He was the seventh child of Eileen (Alcock) Capes, though the eldest of her three children by her third husband Bill Capes.<ref name="auto" /> His father was a land worker, while his mother, who stood six feet tall and weighed 250 pounds, was a matron at a care home.<ref name=":12"/> Of his older siblings, the elder two were Braithwaites and the middle four Cannons.<ref name="auto">{{cite book |first1=Geoff |last1=Capes |first2=Neil |last2=Wilson |title=Big Shot |publisher=Hutchinson |date=April 1981 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6EDxPQAACAAJ |isbn=978-0091-4497-04}}</ref> Capes told ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', "The family wasn't just working class, but was on the lowest rung of that very long ladder that is the English class system."<ref name=":12"/> He grew up in the town and went to the local secondary school, [[University Academy Holbeach|George Farmer]]. During his time at school, his behaviour and academic performance were reportedly poor, resulting in frequent [[caning]]. On one occasion, a teacher twisted his ear until it bled as punishment for misbehaving in class. The same day, Capes's mother confronted the teacher and punched him.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news |last=Obituaries |first=Telegraph |date=2024-10-23 |title=Geoff Capes, 'World's Strongest Man' who dominated 1970s shot-putting across Britain and Europe |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/obituaries/2024/10/23/geoff-capes-worlds-strongest-man-shot-putting-1970s/ |access-date=2024-11-08 |work=The Daily Telegraph |language=en-GB |issn=0307-1235}}</ref>

Capes described himself as a troubled youth and recalled that he was constantly fighting. "If the next town came down on a Friday and there were only eight or nine of them, I'd say, 'Go back and get some more{{'"}}, he told ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'' in 2023. "I'd fight them on my own. I was quite quiet but there was an inner aggression." Despite his natural inclination towards physical activities, Capes initially struggled to find success in sports. He faced a one-year ban from a local football team after striking a referee during a match. He left school at 14 to work as a labourer, carrying sacks of potatoes and taking on various odd jobs.<ref name=":12"/> At the age of 15, he loaded 20 tons of potatoes onto a lorry in under 20 minutes, just to demonstrate that it could be done. By 16, he had taken on the role of assistant coalman and odd-job worker for a haulier in Lincolnshire. During tea breaks at the haulier's yard, he developed his arm strength by lifting two four-stone weights overhead. He also created a makeshift gymnasium with two friends.<ref name=":2" /> During this time, he joined a local athletics club, where he met [[Stuart Storey]], a hurdler who later competed in the [[1968 Olympics]]. Capes stated that Storey helped him turn his life around and guided him during his early days in athletics. Storey encouraged him to try shot put and participate in competitions. Lacking the means to buy proper clothes, Capes attended events wearing garments left behind by his mother's patients after they died.<ref name=":12"/> His first attempt at competitive shot-putting ended with him placing second-to-last in the finals of the 1964 All England Schools Athletics Championships.<ref name=":2" />

Capes was a gifted sportsman, and represented Lincolnshire at basketball, [[association football|football]] and [[cross country running|cross-country]]. In addition he was a decent sprinter, running 23.7 s for the 200 m.<ref name="Sons" /><ref name="Ind" /> Growing up on the Lincolnshire fens he had an early fascination with the natural world and cared for injured birds and animals from when he was a young boy.<ref name="Off">{{Cite web |url=http://www.geoffcapes.com/athlete.php |title=Profile on official site |access-date=16 October 2010 |archive-date=8 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100808013412/http://www.geoffcapes.com/athlete.php |url-status=dead }}</ref> After school he worked as a coalman and an agricultural labourer, being able to load twenty tons of potatoes in twenty minutes. Following in the footsteps of his grandfather, uncle and older brothers, he joined [[Cambridgeshire Constabulary]] in 1970, and remained in the police for ten years; his departure from the police came when he decided to compete in the [[1980 Moscow Olympics]], despite the British Government's calls for a [[1980 Summer Olympics boycott|boycott]], and was thereby forced to resign his position.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Domeneghetti |first1=Roger |title=Everybody Wants To Rule The World: Britain, Sport & The 1980s |date=4 May 2023 |publisher=[[Yellow Jersey Press]] |isbn=9781787290594 |pages=286–287}}</ref>