The World's Strongest Boy

A remarkable story of a young child who by the age of six had a stomach so firm and so toned that he had, not a six-pack but, an eight-pack. Richard moved to the USA when he was two years old with his parents, Pavel and Lena, from the Ukraine for a, ostensibly, better life.

Pavel, A World Martial Arts Champion and Lena, an Aerobics competitor, soon realised, or perhaps, soon decided that Richard would/could be a child prodigy. They began his training at the age of two with light exercises and martial arts skills. This progressed over the next few years to quite intense body-building work outs. Richard trained continuously and attained a truly remarkable physique.

Richard was put in touch with Frank and Sherry Goggin-Giardina, body-building, fitness and nutritional experts with the marketing clout to get Richard known. Frank and Sherry produced a healthy fitness program for the boy to follow and soon he was lifting 180 pounds. He continued to train in martial arts and by age eight had the strongest kicks and fastest punches in the world.

However, all was not well. Frank was concerned about the boy's diet, his father, Pavel, was preparing a powdered food supplement which Richard lived off along with vitamin and mineral supplements. Frank demanded to know what was in the supplement but Pavel refused to disclose the ingredients. By this time Richard's body fat was barely 1% a situation that in anyone else could be life threatening. Frank was unhappy with the situation and declined to continue working with the boy.

Richard Sandrak
Richard

By the age of nine he was working on a movie version of Little Tarzan with Joey Travolta directing.

This remarkable Ukranian boy has had his 10 minutes of fame, but at the expense of missing out, totally, on anything resembling a normal childhood. This fame was not without controversy, as many outspoken parents considered this treatment as nothing short of child-abuse.