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 Nine World's Strongest Man titles, and numerous major European and international competitions.
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 9 World's Strongest Man titles, second only to the USA who have won 12 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 the World's Strongest Man four times, and became the first man to win the title 4 times. Sigmarsson was also a six times World Muscle Power champion, 2 times Europe's Strongest Man 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 World's Strongest Man titles, becoming the second man to win the title 4 times. He also won World Strongman Challenge, Europe's Strongest Man and European Hercules competitions. Ver Magnússon and Árnason also won the 1989 Pure Strength team competition. There have also been a number of other highly respected Icelandic competitors in the top international events including Benedikt Magnússon, Torfi Ólafsson and most notably Stefán Sölvi Pétursson who achieved fourth-place in the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition. The next entire decade of Icelandic Strongman competitions was dominated by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who won the main National title 10 consecutive times in addition to winning several other national competitions multiple times and also winning 9 Giants Live tours including the Europe's Strongest Man 5 times, 8 Strongman Champions League titles, the Arnold Strongman Classic 3 consecutive times, the World's Strongest Man and the World's Ultimate Strongman becoming the most decorated Icelandic Strongman of All time.[1]
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.
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.
In 2010, this contest was held for the nineteenth time, dating it back to 1992.[17] 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.
^"Hafthor Wins Strongest Man in Iceland Viking Challenge 2017".
^ abMonday, July 12, 2010, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Wins Iceland’s Strongest Viking: Magnús Ver Magnússon Praises His Progress by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind
^. Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
^ ab. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
January 21, 2023
strength, athletics, iceland, refers, participation, icelandic, competitors, holding, icelandic, events, modern, phenomenon, strength, athletics, inaugurated, world, strongest, sport, roots, have, long, history, going, back, many, centuries, before, televisati. 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 Nine World s Strongest Man titles and numerous major European and international competitions Contents 1 History 2 National competitions 2 1 Iceland s Strongest Man 2 1 1 Champions breakdown 2 1 2 Most podium finishes without winning the title 2 2 Strongest Man in Iceland 2 3 Iceland s Strongest Man IFSA 2 4 Iceland s Strongest Viking 3 Regional Competitions 3 1 Nordic Strongman Championships 4 See also 5 ReferencesHistory EditThe 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 9 World s Strongest Man titles second only to the USA who have won 12 titles Before Iceland had its own national competition it already had men competing on the international circuit In 1983 the young powerlifter and bodybuilder Jon Pall 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 the World s Strongest Man four times and became the first man to win the title 4 times Sigmarsson was also a six times World Muscle Power champion 2 times Europe s Strongest Man and winner of the Pure Strength title His contemporary and good friend Hjalti Arnason 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 Magnus Ver Magnusson followed in their footsteps and emulated Sigmarsson s four World s Strongest Man titles becoming the second man to win the title 4 times He also won World Strongman Challenge Europe s Strongest Man and European Hercules competitions Ver Magnusson and Arnason also won the 1989 Pure Strength team competition There have also been a number of other highly respected Icelandic competitors in the top international events including Benedikt Magnusson Torfi olafsson and most notably Stefan Solvi Petursson who achieved fourth place in the 2010 World s Strongest Man competition The next entire decade of Icelandic Strongman competitions was dominated by Hafthor Julius Bjornsson who won the main National title 10 consecutive times in addition to winning several other national competitions multiple times and also winning 9 Giants Live tours including the Europe s Strongest Man 5 times 8 Strongman Champions League titles the Arnold Strongman Classic 3 consecutive times the World s Strongest Man and the World s Ultimate Strongman becoming the most decorated Icelandic Strongman of All time 1 National competitions EditSince 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 Edit In 1985 the very first Iceland s Strongest Man contest was staged 2 Hjalti Arnason was second to Jon Pall that year whilst Magnus Ver Magnusson 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 of the USA and Regin Vagadal of the Faroe Islands won Tom Stoltman Terry Hollands and Adrian Rollinson of the United Kingdom and Don Pope of the USA have all placed second Luke Stoltman of the United Kingdom has placed third Year Champion Runner Up 3rd Place1985 Jon Pall Sigmarsson Hjalti Arnason Magnus Ver Magnusson1986 Jon Pall Sigmarsson Hjalti Arnason Magnus Ver Magnusson1987 Jon Pall Sigmarsson Hjalti Arnason Magnus Ver Magnusson1988 Bill Kazmaier Magnus Ver Magnusson Hjalti Arnason1989 Magnus Ver Magnusson Hjalti Arnason Torfi olafsson1990 Jon Pall Sigmarsson1991 3 4 Magnus Ver Magnusson Hjalti Arnason Bjorgvin Filippusson1992 Jon Pall Sigmarsson1993 Magnus Ver Magnusson1994 Gunnar THor Gudjonsson Torfi olafssonAudunn Jonsson1995 Magnus Ver Magnusson Torfi olafsson1996 Magnus Ver Magnusson Hjalti Arnason1997 Torfi olafsson1998 Regin Vagadal Gunnar THor Gudjonsson Torfi olafsson1999 5 Gunnar THor Gudjonsson Audunn JonssonTorfi olafsson2000 6 Gunnar THor Gudjonsson Torfi olafsson Audunn Jonsson2001 Magnus Ver Magnusson Magnus Magnusson Kristinn oskar Boris Haraldsson2002 7 Magnus Magnusson Audunn Jonsson Gretar Gudmundsson2003 Benedikt Magnusson Audunn Jonsson Gretar Gudmundsson2004 Magnus Ver Magnusson Benedikt Magnusson Audunn Jonsson2005 8 Kristinn Oskar Boris Haraldsson Adrian Rollinson Gudjon Gislason2006 9 Kristinn oskar Boris Haraldsson Don Pope Jens Fylkisson2007 10 Kristinn oskar Boris Haraldsson Terry Hollands Don Pope 2008 Kristinn oskar Boris Haraldsson Stefan Solvi Petursson Orri Geirsson2009 Stefan Solvi Petursson Kristinn oskar Boris Haraldsson Pall Logason2010 Stefan Solvi Petursson Benedikt Magnusson Hafthor Julius Bjornsson2011 11 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Pall Logason2012 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Pall Logason2013 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Pall Logason Ari Gunnarsson2014 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Pall Logason Ari Gunnarsson2015 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Fannar Smari2016 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Stefan Solvi Petursson Ari Gunnarsson2017 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Sigfus Fossdal2018 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Sigfus Fossdal2019 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Tom Stoltman Luke Stoltman 2020 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Ari Gunnarsson2021 Stefan Karel Torfason Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Kristjan Sindri Nielsson2022 Kristjan Jon Haraldsson Stefan Karel Torfason Pall LogasonChampions breakdown Edit Champion Times YearsHafthor Julius Bjornsson 10 consecutive 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020Magnus Ver Magnusson 7 1989 1991 1993 1995 1996 2001 2004Jon Pall Sigmarsson 5 1985 1986 1987 1990 1992Kristinn oskar Boris Haraldsson 4 consecutive 2005 2006 2007 2008Gunnar THor Gudjonsson 3 1994 1999 2000Stefan Solvi Petursson 2 consecutive 2009 2010Torfi olafsson 1 1997Magnus Magnusson 1 2002Benedikt Magnusson 1 2003Stefan Karel Torfason 1 2021Kristjan Jon Haraldsson 1 2022Most podium finishes without winning the title Edit Athlete Times breakdown Ari Gunnarsson 8 4 x 2nd 4 x 3rd Hjalti Arnason 7 6 x 2nd 1 x 3rd Audunn Jonsson 6 4 x 2nd 2 x 3rd Pall Logason 6 2 x 2nd 4 x 3rd Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted 3 3 x 2nd Gretar Gudmundsson 2 2 x 3rd Sigfus Fossdal 2 2 x 3rd Strongest Man in Iceland Edit Year Champion Runner Up 3rd Place2010 12 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Benedikt Magnusson2011 13 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Georg Ogmundsson2012 14 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Pall Logason2016 15 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Ari Gunnarsson Stefan Solvi Petursson2017 16 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Oskar Petur Hafstein Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted2018 Ari Gunnarsson Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Andre Bachmann2019 Ari Gunnarsson Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Kristjan Jon Haraldsson2020 Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Stefan Karel Torfason Oskar Petur Hafstein2021 Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted Kristjan Jon Haraldsson Tomas Darri Thorsteinsson2022 Kristjan Jon Haraldsson Vilius Jokuzys Theodor Mar GudmundssonIceland s Strongest Man IFSA Edit 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 Location2005 Benedikt Magnusson2006 Benedikt Magnusson Stefan Solvi Petursson Georg Ogmundsson2008 Stefan Solvi Petursson Pall Logason Gretar GudmundssonResults courtesy of David Horne s World of GripIceland s Strongest Viking Edit In 2010 this contest was held for the nineteenth time dating it back to 1992 17 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 Place1998 Regin Vagadal Faroe Islands Gunnar THor Gudjonsson Torfi olafsson2000 Magnus Ver Magnusson Audunn Jonsson Svavar Einarsson2001 Magnus Ver Magnusson Gudmundur Otri Sigurdsson Jon Valgeir Williams2002 Magnus Ver Magnusson Jon Valgeir Williams Magnus Magnusson2003 Magnus Ver Magnusson Jon Valgeir Williams Audunn Jonsson2004 Magnus Ver Magnusson Benedikt Magnusson Jon Valgeir Williams2005 18 Magnus Ver Magnusson Magnus Magnusson Georg Ogmundsson2006 19 Stefan Solvi Petursson Georg Ogmundsson Jon Valgeir Williams2007 Benedikt Magnusson Petur Bruno and Georg Ogmundsson2009 Stefan Solvi Petursson Pall Logason2010 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson 17 Pall Logason Ari Gunnarsson2011 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Stefan Solvi Petursson Ari Gunnarsson2012 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Stefan Solvi Petursson Georg OgmundssonRegional Competitions EditNordic Strongman Championships Edit The Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland Norway Sweden Finland and Denmark 20 Year Champion Runner Up 3rd Place Location2005 Svend Karlsen Magnus Samuelsson Juha Matti Rasanen IFSA Nordic Strongman Championships Kristiansand Norway2012 20 Johannes Arsjo Lars Rorbakken Michael Licht Nordic Strongman Championships Harstad NorwaySee also EditStrength athleticsReferences Edit Strongman Archives Athletes Strongman Archives 5 April 2022 Retrieved 6 April 2022 Wednesday June 17 2009 Stefan Solvi Petursson Wins Iceland s Strongest Man by Randall J Strossen Ph D IronMind 2 september 1991 Sterkasti madur islands 1991 Magnus Ver sigradi In 1991 Jon Pall Sigmarsson was unable to compete due to injury sustained in Denmark Andres Gudmundsson took fourth place Iceland s Strongest Man 1999 archived from the original on 2021 12 21 retrieved 2021 03 27 Sunday June 18 2000 Gunnar Thor Wins Icelandic Strongest Man by Randall J Strossen Ph D IronMind permanent dead link 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 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins Iceland s Strongest Man Archived from the original on 2011 06 23 Retrieved 2011 06 20 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins 2010 Strongest Man in Iceland Archived from the original on 2011 12 10 Retrieved 2011 06 06 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins the Strongest Man in Iceland Archived from the original on 2011 06 12 Retrieved 2011 06 06 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins Strongest Man in Iceland Archived from the original on 2013 03 16 Retrieved 2012 06 04 Hafthor Wins Strongest Man in Iceland Hafthor Wins Strongest Man in Iceland Viking Challenge 2017 a b Monday July 12 2010 Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins Iceland s Strongest Viking Magnus Ver Magnusson Praises His Progress by Randall J Strossen IronMind Ironmind report 2005 Iceland s Strongest Viking Ironmind report 2006 Iceland s Strongest Viking Archived from the original on 2011 07 13 Retrieved 2010 10 03 a b Nordic Strongman Championships Viking Loses His Title Archived from the original on 2013 10 04 Retrieved 2012 06 21 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Strength athletics in Iceland amp oldid 1121469940 Strongest Man in Iceland, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
