I first came across child prodigy Giuliano Stroe a few months ago when he started getting attention for his record breaking hand walking performance.
Then Giuliano set another world record last week for planche push-ups.
Now Giuliano, at just 5 years old, is also the unofficial world record holder in one of my all time favorite feats of strength, the human flag.
While I am impressed and inspired by the strength and skill of this gifted young gymnast, it’s hard to watch these videos without being reminded of the story of Richard Sandrak, aka “Little Hercules,” a child prodigy who got a lot of attention for his physique and feats of strength a few years ago. It was later revealed that Richard’s father was abusive and also gave the boy steriods.
I know very little about young Giuliano Stroe, but I hope his story ends up differently. The issue of kids and strength training is complicated and I’m not really sure where I stand on it.
One thing is for sure, though–this kid is definitely inspiring me to step up my human flag game!