Sigmarsson was invited to the World's Strongest Man competition for the first time in 1983, in which he came in second only to Geoff Capes.
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At Pure Strength 1987, a competition held in place of the absent World's Strongest Man competition of that year on the grounds of Huntly Castle in Aberdeenshire, Scotland, Geoff Capes, Bill Kazmaier and Jón Páll matched up to crown the strongest man on the planet.
Leading the competition with a comfortable 5½ points before the last event - a 200m race with a 100kg weight on the back - the very heavy 400lb Wilson lacked the endurance and running speed to complete the course quickly and ended up losing by just half a point to the much lighter Jón Páll Sigmarsson in the overall.
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Ab Wolders from the Netherlands finished second after finishing fourth the previous year, and Jon Pall Sigmarsson from Iceland finished third.
This performances culminated in an invitation to the 1988 World's Strongest Man where he finished third on his first attempt, to Jon Pall Sigmarsson and Bill Kazmaier.
In 1983, the young powerlifter and bodybuilder, Jón Páll Sigmarsson entered the 1983 World's Strongest Man competition and was only beaten into second place by the experienced Geoff Capes.
As with its two international counterparts it attracted the top quality strength athletes of its era, which included every winner of the World's Strongest Man competition from 1980 onwards including Jon Pall Sigmarsson, Geoff Capes and Bill Kazmaier from the 1980s right up to the current WSM champion Žydrūnas Savickas.
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The event immediately attracted the very best athletes in the field and the final placings in that inaugural 1987 competition saw both Jon Pall Sigmarsson and Geoff Capes on the podium.