Editing Geoff Capes (section)

== Highland Games ==
Capes competed at many [[Highland Games]] gatherings in Scotland and across the world and became a hugely popular and respected figure. He won the [[World Highland Games|World Heavy Events]] title in [[Lagos]] in 1981, in a year when there were two world championships, the second won in Melbourne by Bill Anderson.<ref name="Sons"/><ref name="Lagos">Although the IHGF state on their official website that Geoff Capes won the World Heavy Championship in 1983 in Lagos in their IHGF Champions page ([https://web.archive.org/web/20110614161508/http://www.worldheavyevents.com/documents/29.html here]) the 1983 championship finals were held in Carmunnock, as stated in the Development section of IHGF's same website ([https://web.archive.org/web/20090105190050/http://www.worldheavyevents.com/documents/31.html here]). The location of the 1983 championships being Carmunnock is corroborated by Emily Ann Donaldson in her book ''The Scottish Highland Games in America'' (Emily Ann Donaldson, ''The Scottish Highland Games in America'', p19, Pelican Publishing, 1986, {{ISBN|1-56554-560-5}}, {{ISBN|978-1-56554-560-1}}). In Donaldson's book it is mentioned that a World Championship was held in [[Lagos]] in 1981 and Capes won this. The book states that the World Heavy Events Championships was also held in 1981 in Melbourne. From this evidence it would seem that there were two World Championships held in 1981, both sponsored by the IHF. Further corroborating the existence of the 1981 Lagos World Championships is the profile of Geoff Capes written by the founder of the IHF, David Webster, who states that Capes won his first world title in 1981 in Lagos. (David Webster, Sons of Samson Volume 2 Profiles, page 78 (Ironmind Enterprises), {{ISBN|0-926888-06-4}}). Further still, on his official website, Capes states that he was six times world champion.</ref><ref name="emily">Emily Ann Donaldson, ''The Scottish Highland Games in America'', p19, Pelican Publishing, 1986, {{ISBN|1-56554-560-5}}, {{ISBN|978-1-56554-560-1}}</ref> He went on to win again in 1983 in [[Carmunnock]]<ref name="emily"/> and the next four consecutive titles, making him the most successful competitor ever in terms of titles. He set world records in many disciplines, including the 56&nbsp;lb [[Weight over bar]] and brick lifting. As a Highland competitor he was dubbed Geoff Dubh Laidir, translated as Black Strong Geoff.<ref name="emily"/> He held the record for shot put at [[Cowal Highland Gathering]] − Scotland's only international heavy athletics competition − since 1980 at {{convert|18.50|m|ftin}}.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Heavy Athletics Cowal Record Holders |url=https://cowalgathering.com/historic-results/heavy-athletics-cowal-record-holders/ |access-date=23 October 2024 |website=Cowal Gathering |language=en-US}}</ref>