For a time, Richard Sandrak was known as the "world’s strongest boy".
With chiseled abs and muscles that stunned the fitness world, he was dubbed “Little Hercules” and described as “pound-for-pound the most powerful human being on Earth."
Little Hercules was born in Ukraine to fitness-obsessed parents - his father, Pavel, a martial arts champion, and his mother, Lena, an aerobics competitor.
His childhood revolved around an extreme training regimen. By the age of five, he was working out daily, and at eight, he had the physique of a miniature Schwarzenegger, bench-pressing three times his own weight.
Reports at the time suggested Sandrak performed 600 push-ups, 300 squats, and hours of martial arts and weight training each day.
“Yes, and no,” Richard clarified years later, cited by Metro. “I mean, I don’t want to say some of it is exaggerated, but at the same time, there were many times where I pushed even past that point. It was a daily part of my life.”
His remarkable form made him a global phenomenon. He competed in bodybuilding contests, appeared on Jimmy Kimmel and Howard Stern, and posed with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hulk Hogan, and Lou Ferrigno.
At 11, Sandrak had earned the title “World’s Strongest Boy," but concerns mounted about his health and the controversial methods behind his rise to fame, with doctors questioning whether steroids were involved - allegations his mother denied.
It was later revealed that he was struggling behind the spotlight, as his childhood was marred by abuse.
“For me, it was a daily occurrence to where I was physically and emotionally abused by my dad,” he once recalled, sharing that the training sessions sometimes spiraled into “what felt like a really intense hostage situation."
In 2003, Sandrak called 911 after his father violently assaulted his mother. Pavel was jailed and deported to Ukraine.
“It’s been a breath of fresh air ever since,” he said, adding that he has no interest in reconnecting with him.
After being free from his father’s control, Sandrak entered school, made his first friends, and discovered food he’d been denied. “I fell in love with Chinese food,” he said.
By 16, weightlifting, which had become “almost like PTSD," was abandoned. He instead tried gymnastics, swimming, basketball, and skateboarding, though years of intense training left him with lasting joint damage.
As an adult, Sandrak experimented with different careers. He worked in restaurants, became a chef, performed stunts at Universal Studios Hollywood’s Waterworld show, and was a retail manager in Los Angeles, Inside Edition reported.
But while the outside world saw him as a prodigy, Richard privately battled depression and alcoholism. His father gave him his first shot of liquor at nine, and by adulthood, he was consuming up to a bottle of tequila a day.
“Without realising it, I was using alcohol as an escape. And the things I was escaping were just everyday life. And at some point that catches up to you," he said.
He suffered painful kidney stones linked to drinking, so he checked himself into the hospital and quit cold turkey on October 31, 2023. “I’ve never felt better,” he said of his sobriety.
Now 32, Sandrak lives quietly in Los Angeles with his attorney girlfriend and their two cats, Miko and Mushu. He also spends time with his mother.
“We were both victims. Anyone who was in my father’s presence was a victim of his manipulative and violent nature,” he said. “We have been through hell and back together and will always be able to lean on each other.”
The former "World's strongest boy" looked back on his past and is both reflective and grateful.
“When you force somebody to be something that they’re not, that takes a big emotional toll on them, and that’s why a lot of famous kids go through addiction,” he explained. “You’re not so much of a person as you are a monetary object. I don’t recommend being famous to anybody. It’s overrated.”
Today, though, he says he is “mostly happy with the person I am.”