Strength athletics in Iceland
Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and the holding of Icelandic events in the modern phenomenon of strength athletics inaugurated by the World's Strongest Man. The sport's roots have a long history going back many centuries before the televisation of strongman competitions in the 1970s and Iceland has a role in that more ancient heritage. In terms of modern strength athletics, Iceland has held a preeminent position as a nation due to the enormous success of its competitors on the international stage, who between them have won eight World's Strongest Man titles, and numerous major European and international competitions.
History
The origin of Icelanders testing each other through feats and tests of strength predates the introduction of strength athletics and in terms of strength based sports there had been a number of noted powerlifters and weightlifters during the twentieth century. However, in the era of strongman competition Iceland has a record that belies the size of the nation's population having won 8 WSM titles, second only to the USA who have won 9 titles. Before Iceland had its own national competition, it already had men competing on the international circuit. 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. Sigmarsson went on to win the competition the following year and in total won it four times. Sigmarsson was also a six times World Muscle Power champion and winner of the Pure Strength title. His contemporary, and good friend Hjalti Árnason, was also competing at this time and as well as podium finishes in World Muscle Power and World Strongman Challenge, he won the highly regarded Le Defi Mark Ten International competition. Magnús Ver Magnússon followed in their footsteps and emulated Sigmarsson's four WSM titles. There have also been a number of other highly respected Icelandic competitors in the top international events and in 2010 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson achieved a fourth place finish in the 2010 World's Strongest Man.
National competitions
Since 1985, Iceland has had its own national competition, Iceland's Strongest Man. There have also been three other major titles contested in Iceland, including Strongest Man in Iceland, Iceland's Strongest Man (IFSA) and Iceland's Strongest Viking.
Iceland’s Strongest Man
In 1985, the very first Iceland's Strongest Man contest was staged.[1] Hjalti Árnason was second to Jón Páll that year whilst Magnús Ver Magnússon came third. Thus, in the very first contest the podium finishers would between them go on to win the World's Strongest Man eight times, the World Muscle Power Classic seven times, the World Strongman Challenge, Le Defi Mark Ten International and numerous powerlifting titles including the super-heavyweight IPF World Powerlifting Championships. The contest's profile was immediately internationally renowned and it eventually became an open competition, although if a non-Icelander wins, the title of Iceland's Strongest Man defers to the highest place Icelander. This has only happened on 2 occasions when the legendary Bill Kazmaier and Regin Vagadal of the Faroe Islands won. Terry Hollands and Adrian Rollinson of the United Kingdom and Don Pope of the USA have all placed second.
Strongest Man in Iceland
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2010[10] | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Benedikt Magnússon | |
| 2011[11] | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Ari Gunnarsson | Georg Ögmundsson |
| 2012[12] | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Ari Gunnarsson | Páll Logason |
Iceland's Strongest Man (IFSA)
The IFSA organised the Iceland's Strongest Man competition for a number of years before 2005. However, when the IFSA disassociated from the World's Strongest Man competition, Iceland's Strongest Man remained the official qualifier with no IFSA involvement. The IFSA did continue to promote their own version until their financial demise at the end of 2008.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Benedikt Magnússon | |||
| 2006 | Benedikt Magnússon | Stefán Sölvi Pétursson | Georg Ögmundsson | |
| 2008 | Stefán Sölvi Pétursson | Páll Logason | Grétar Guðmundsson | |
- Results courtesy of David Horne's World of Grip
Iceland's Strongest Viking
In 2010, this contest was held for the nineteenth time, dating it back to 1992.[13] In some years the results of this contest have been combined with those of Iceland's Strongest Man in order to ascertain who qualifies for the World's Strongest Man.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place | Location | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Regin Vagadal  Faroe Islands | Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson | Torfi Ólafsson | ||
| 1999 | |||||
| 2000 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Auðunn Jónsson | Svavar Einarsson | ||
| 2001 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Guðmundur Otri Sigurðsson | Jón Valgeir Williams | ||
| 2002 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Jón Valgeir Williams | Magnús Magnússon | ||
| 2003 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Jón Valgeir Williams | Auðunn Jónsson | ||
| 2004 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Benedikt Magnússon | Jon Valgeir Williams | ||
| 2005[14] | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Magnus Magnusson | Georg Ögmundsson | ||
| 2006[15] | Stefán Sölvi Pétursson | Georg Ögmundsson | Jón Valgeir Williams | ||
| 2007 | Benedikt Magnússon | Petur Bruno and Georg Ögmundsson | |||
| 2009 | Stefán Sölvi Pétursson | Páll Logason | |||
| 2010 | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson[13] | Páll Logason | Ari Gunnarsson | ||
| 2011 | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Stefán Sölvi Pétursson | Ari Gunnarsson | ||
| 2012 | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Stefán Sölvi Pétursson | Georg Ögmundsson | ||
Regional Competitions
Nordic Strongman Championships
The Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.[16]
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 |  Svend Karlsen |  Magnus Samuelsson |  Juha-Matti Räsänen | IFSA Nordic Strongman Championships Kristiansand, Norway |
| 2012[16] | Johannes Arsjo | Lars Rorbakken |  Michael Licht | Nordic Strongman Championships Harstad, Norway |
See also
References
- ↑ Wednesday, June 17, 2009, Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind
- ↑ 2 september 1991, Sterkasti maður íslands 1991: Magnús Ver sigraði
- ↑ In 1991 Jón Páll Sigmarsson was unable to compete due to injury sustained in Denmark. Andrés Guðmundsson took fourth place
- ↑ Sunday, June 18, 2000, Gunnar Thor Wins Icelandic Strongest Man... by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind
- ↑ Monday, June 17, 2002, Magnus Magnussson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind
- ↑ Saturday, June 18, 2005, Boris Wins Iceland's Strongest Man, Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind
- ↑ Tuesday, June 20, 2006, Iceland's Strongest Man Contest: Boris Wins, Qualifies for WSMSS, by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind
- ↑ Boris Repeats as Iceland’s Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D.
- ↑ http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2011/Jun/Hafthor_Julius_Bjornsson_Wins_Icelandxs_Strongest_Man.html
- ↑ http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2010/Jun/Hafthor_Julius_Bjornsson_Wins_2010_Strongest_Man_in_Iceland.html
- ↑ http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2011/Jun/Hafthor_Julius_Bjornsson_Wins_the_Strongest_Man_in_Iceland.html
- ↑ http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2012/Jun/Hafthor_Julius_Bjornsson_Wins_Strongest_Man_in_Iceland.html
- 1 2 Monday, July 12, 2010, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Wins Iceland’s Strongest Viking: Magnús Ver Magnússon Praises His Progress by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind
- ↑ Ironmind report, 2005 Iceland's Strongest Viking
- ↑ Ironmind report, 2006 Iceland's Strongest Viking
- 1 2 http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2012/Jun/Nordic_Strongman_Championships-Viking_Loses_His_Title.html