Meet 2025 Gold Medalist Liam McCabe

Crowd favorite Liam McCabe, 35, came away from the 2025 Highland Games with the gold medal in the lightweight (under 200 pounds) men’s category. Born in Virginia and raised in Maryland, Liam attended Renaissance and Celtic festivals in his boyhood. He played hockey and lacrosse in school, rising to all-state defenseman in the latter. Not until 2021, however, did he participate in his first highland games. A fast learner, Liam now competes in a half dozen games a year. His favorite event is the caber, and his intensity is clear from the image at right, taken during his gold medal performance. We recently sat down with Liam to ask what makes him tick.

With a name like McCabe, may we assume you claim Scottish ancestry?

I’m thoroughly Scotch-Irish and very proud of it. Full-blooded Irish from my father; the McCabes were Scotsmen who came over to Ireland in the 13th century or so. My mother has Scots ancestors as well—Hunters, Dibbles and Grafts.

What got you started throwing hammers, putting stones, and tossing cabers and sheafs?

When I was growing up, my family sold books at the Maryland Renaissance Festival and Celtic festivals through the spring and summer. Most of these festivals had highland games as a part of them, so I was exposed to and familiarized with the games from a relatively young age.

My hands-on introduction to the games came at the Renaissance festival. During its Celtic celebration weekend there were caber demonstrations on the joust field. I was invited to participate by organizer Pat Parker, himself a world-class highland games athlete. I participated in the caber toss at the fair until it was discontinued.

I started doing the complete games with MASA (Mid-Atlantic Scottish Athletics) in April 2021.

I had a friend who did strongman competitions. Due to COVID, everything was cancelled but the

highland games, and he wanted to try his hand at that. So, with about a month to train, we went

after it. We had a great time, and I decided to stick with the games.

Explain MASA for the uninitiated.

MASA is a regional sports league, governing body and equipment provider all rolled into one. It

has rules like other leagues, but with slight differences on some of the minutiae. It arranges for

judges to be out on the field with us and provides the equipment—cabers, weights, standing

apparatus for height events—we use on the field.

Do you have a favorite event? Explain what it entails and how to score one’s best at it.

Caber is my favorite. It’s a unique event that has no comparison. To score well, you must have

strength and grace. To pick up, balance, move with and throw that log—there are so many things

going on. To score well, you must have a mastery of every facet. Picking it from the ground up

into your hands is probably the trickiest part. Many athletes struggle to complete that first step.

From there you must find balance, begin moving with it, build more speed, then stop and throw

it. A good score is any proper end-over-end turn of the caber, but a perfect score will be end over

end in a straight line with the athlete. What they call 12 o’clock is the perfect score.

What’s the most challenging event and why?

When I first started, I would have said the heavy weight for distance. The coordination needed to

complete a two-spin throw, coupled with the sheer weight of the implement, makes it very tough.

The weight is pulling you in one direction, but you are trying to go the opposite way with it. It

takes time to learn how to move with and lead the weight well. The weight is so heavy, it wants

to rip out of your hands, so it’s a challenge to keep a good grip on it. It’s a great test of strength

and skill.

These days, I would say the most challenging for me is the weight over bar. The throw itself isn’t

too technical, but the strength needed to reach greater heights is undeniable. It’s strength that is

holding back my improvement in this event. The only way to get it higher is to get stronger.

Was there a particular moment or gathering that hooked you on the highland games?

A few moments have really stuck with me.

My father competed one year at the caber toss at the Maryland Renaissance Festival. Watching

him out there, I wanted to be strong just like him.

My first competition will always be memorable. I hadn’t competed at anything in a dozen years

or more, so nerves were affecting me more than any other time I can remember. I couldn’t sleep

the night before. I was shaking on the field before some of my throws. That was certainly

memorable.

One last memory that will really have me hooked on highland games is walking off the field

victorious at Harpers Ferry last year. After four years of training and competing, to have earned

victory. What a payoff for all the hard work, all the great advice and coaching from so many

good people. To have earned top spot, at a top-tier festival. What a culmination. I will hold on to

that feeling forever.

What are ways you’ve found to train or at least keep in shape during the off-season?

Early in my first year of competing I was introduced to another athlete that lived close by, and

we started training on weekends. He was a world-class athlete. He’s been to master’s world championships twice. He was big, and he was strong. Training under him was a gift. He had a

wealth of knowledge and was not shy about sharing it. Over the years we have had a few other

men join us, and now we train all year round, weather permitting. There are times I’m throwing

all by myself because other guys have commitments. If everyone is free, there will be five or six

of us out there.

Even if you can’t train with the implements, weightlifting in the gym will get you in good

condition to handle them.

Given the goal is to hurl heavy objects airborne for great heights and distances, have you

ever been injured or witnessed any accidents/injuries during competition?

The only major injuries I’ve seen come from people behaving foolishly. One man stuck is arm

out to mock catching a flying weight, and the handle whipped around and fractured his wrist.

Another time a gentleman attempted a one-handed heavy hammer throw. He succeeded in

completing the throw, but detached his bicep, with an audible pop.

As for myself, one time I got a pretty big splinter while lifting a caber. I had to put the caber

down on my thigh, squeeze it into my shoulder with my neck, then pull out the splinter. Then I

got hold of the caber again and threw it.

Overall, I and others are blessed to have remained relatively unscathed.

What advice would you give someone interested in participating in the games?

Do not be shy. If you want to participate, go ahead and register for a game. Practice will help, but

there is so much more you will learn from doing a whole event. What’s great about the highland

games community is that knowledge isn’t gatekept—it is freely shared. All the other athletes

want to see you do well. There will be ample advice and encouragement for you from everyone.

You will walk away with a headful of knowledge and a burning desire to apply it again. And

perhaps a tender shoulder from supporting the caber!