Jordan 'Biggie' Steffens lifts Adelaide profile with his world record feats of strength for a range of good causes
Jordan Steffens lifting (left) to support the Code REaD Dyslexia Network cause. Top right: His 2022 Guinness world record involvements. Bottom right: Pulling two B-doubles (64 tonnes) to raise funds for Variety SA (South Australia).
Adelaide’s Jordan “Biggie” Steffens was featured in the Guinness World Records 2022 for two feats of strength: pulling a 203.9 tonnes locomotive and being part of the fastest 20 metres by a three-person tower.
Steffens pulled the locomotive as part of his fundraising for South Australia’s SteamRanger heritage trains group and the tower run was performed with André Augustus and Emily Gare. Steffens moved from a career in competitive weightlifting to the performance strongman arena and fundraisers such as pulling a 90-tonne Qantas Boeing 737 jet to benefit the Craniofacial Australia and two B-double trucks for Variety SA (South Australia).
Born in Adelaide in 1989, Steffens got his “Biggie” nickname at 12 or 13 at 90 kilograms and 1.7 metres. Scouted as a 14-year-old high school student by the South Australian Institute of Sport to join the started weightlifting team, Steffens competed, at 17, in his first strongman competition and was placed second in South Australia.
He came close to representing Australia at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow but suffered multiple injuries before the trials. At the 2015 Adelaide Fitness Expo, Steffens carried 610 kilograms, the most weight by anyone in Australia. He was the first Australian to win a gold medal in Russia – the stronghold of weightlifting. He was also part of setting group world records and won his first South Australian strongest man title and the Australian stone lifting championships.
In 2017, Steffens moved into the performance-style strongman arena with groups such as Adelaide’s Gravity and Other Myths and started working with charities and country shows. Steffens suffered another setback in 2019 when he tore a bicep in training for a new Australian record. Another bicep had to be reattached after performing at the 2021 Adelaide Fringe. Surgeon Dr Nick Chabrel helped him back to full strength.
Another passion for Steffens was cars – as well as the music and other styles – of the 1920s and 1930s. His love of vintage cars was inspired as boy by grandfather Alfred Donald Rankine, who managed the Eudunda Farmers company throughout South Australia’s Riverland, and took him to see the Bay to Birdwood rally. Reffen later became part of the rally with his 1930 Cadillac seven-passenger touring sedan.
