Back in 1994 I was watching a rugby union match in Johannesburg, South Africa on television, and during the pre-amble they talked about a challenge given out by one of the city's gold companies. This challenge involved lifting a gold bar, (worth £84,000 then in 1994) by your index finger and thumb only in a pinch grip. If you did achieve this feat then you could keep this incredible prize!
I immediately contacted the television company but heard nothing. A few years ago, with the joys of the internet I was able to track this challenge down, and found that it was still being offered. It is now part of a mine tour at the Gold Reef City Theme Park in Johannesburg, where after a guided underground tour, you get a chance to see a gold bar being poured, and then another gold bar (weighing 12.5k) is brought out for anyone to try to lift, and of course touch, whilst the security guard looks on.
I did contact this company for more details, as I wanted to know more about the challenge before travelling to South Africa. Once again there was no reply - I guess they don't want to give away the gold to some 'pro' grip athlete travelling from Britain!
This new Gold Bar Top for the GripTopz apparatus was first built as a prototype in 2011 to simulate this feat and is based on dimensions of a standard gold bar. We have elongated the walls of the 'bar' to allow for a full one-handed lift and it is a truly challenging and fun new pinch event.
- David Horne
