MY STRENGTH, MY TORMENT

He stunned the world with his muscular physique as a child – now he’s opened up about the shocking abuse that lay behind it

- JANICE BECKETT-MSIZA

IT ISN’T hard to see why he was nicknamed Little Hercules – with his flowing locks, eight-pack abs, rock-hard pecs and biceps of steel, he was on a pumped-up planet of his own.

By the time he was 10 Richard Sandrak was capable of lifting three times his body weight without breaking a sweat and spurred on by his manager dad Pavel, he took the martial arts and bodybuilding world by storm.

He rubbed shoulders with the likes of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Hulk Hogan, he was interviewed by Oprah Winfrey and he was even the subject of his own documentary, The World’s Strongest Boy.

His fame also raised questions about whether it was healthy for a kid so young to be so ripped, but Richard insisted he was perfectly happy with the restrictive diet and marathon workout sessions imposed by his dad.

But now, 25 years on, he’s telling a very different story. Looking back on his childhood he has no happy memories – instead all he remembers is the almost daily hell he was subjected to by his pushy, volatile, abusive dad.

“My father would often go into rage fits,” Richard (32) says. “There were more times than I can count where a simple training session turned into what felt like a really intense hostage situation.”

He says Pavel, a former martial arts world champion, drove him hard and if he didn’t think his son was putting in enough effort he’d punish him by forcing him to work out for 12 hours with no breaks.

“For me it was a daily occurrence to be physically and emotionally abused by my dad,” Richard says.

There were days when he’d wake up and start with a martial arts session and then move on to weightlifting as the day progressed.

“I got beaten. My dad was very abusive. I learnt early on not to ask to stop. You grit your teeth and keep doing what you’re told.”