Basque Stonelifter Lifts Record 664-Pound Chunk

GUERNICA, Spain —  Inaki Peruena, poet and lifter of stones, has his sights set on a world record this summer when he hoists massive granite blocks at Basque festivals in Nevada and Idaho.

But his long-range goal is the promotion and preservation of traditional Basque sports and culture.

The 31-year-old butcher recently set the world record by hoisting a 664-pound chunk of granite off the ground to his thighs, up to his chest and onto his shoulder.

Along with log chopping, tree trunk splitting and handling oxen and donkeys in stone dragging contests, stonelifting is regarded by Basques as a sport utilizing mental as well as physical strength.

Inaka Perurena is hardly a household name outside of Spain, but he hopes that his future appearances in the United States and on Japanese television will change that.

He wowed a crowd of 13,000 in Paris when he lifted 662 pounds of granite in March.

Spain’s leading newspaper, the Madrid daily El Pais, recently devoted an entire page in its sports section to the comparative strength involved in lifting stones and Olympic-style powerlifting.

The paper concluded that Soviet powerlifter Anatoli Pissarenko’s 583-pound lift of steel barbells in 1984 required more strength than Perurena’s feat in Guernica because the powerlifter uses fewer points of support on his body while lifting.

Perurena, who is 6-foot-1 and weighs 275 pounds, is also known for his gift for extemporaneous poetry, another coveted Basque skill.

He recites in Euskera, the Basque language spoken by an estimated 11 percent of the region’s 1.7 million inhabitants.

Perurena defends Basque claims for greater autonomy from the central government in Madrid, but deplores the use of violence by the Basque separatist group ETA to secure independence for the region.

He said his effort to set new records and publicize Basque traditions is motivated by his desire to change “the negative image many outside the region have of the Basque people,” due to the bombings and killings carried out by ETA.

The group, whose name means Homeland and Liberty in Euskera, has claimed responsibility for killing nearly 600 people, mostly military and police officers, since taking up arms in 1968.

Perurena’s father, Jose Ramon, said legend has it that stonelifting competitions began in granite quarries.

Perurena said he took up stonelifting at the age of 14 after losing interest in log chopping, the traditional sport in his hometown of Leiza.