Kópavogur is a town in Iceland that is the country's second largest municipality by population.
Jón Páll Sigmarsson was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's Strongest Man four times and the first and only man to win the World Muscle Power Classic five times. Jón Páll is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time, and is credited with developing Iceland's national identity. He was named Icelandic Sportsperson of the Year in 1981, and was one of the best-known Icelandic athletes. In 2012, Jón Páll was inducted into the World's Strongest Man Hall of Fame.
Magnús Ver Magnússon is an Icelandic former powerlifter and strongman competitor. He is a four-time World's Strongest Man, having won in 1991, 1994, 1995, 1996 and is widely regarded as one of the greatest strongmen of all time.
The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.
Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian powerlifter and professional strongman. Due to his 84 international wins in major international strongman competitions including four World's Strongest Man championships, eight Arnold Strongman Classic championships, two IFSA Strongman World Championships, and over 70 world records, he is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time.
Vasyl Virastyuk, is a Ukrainian politician and former strongman competitor. He is a brother of Roman Virastyuk. Virastyuk was the winner of World's Strongest Man 2004. In a 28 March 2021 parliamentary by-election, Virastyuk was a candidate for Servant of the People. On 15 June 2021, he was sworn in as a member of the Ukrainian parliament.
Travis Ortmayer is an American professional Strongman athlete from Cypress, Texas. He is nicknamed the Texas Stoneman due to his many world records in the Atlas Stone event.
Stefán Sölvi Pétursson is an Icelandic strongman and a finalist of the World's Strongest Man competition, winning 4th place in the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition held in Sun City and 9th place in the 2011 World's Strongest Man competition held in Wingate, North Carolina. He has also won Icelandic Strongman competitions multiple times including Iceland’s Strongest Man in 2009 and 2010.
Benedikt "Benni" Magnússon is an Icelandic strongman and powerlifter. He has held the raw deadlift world record since 2011 with 460.4 kg (1,015 lb). He also set the world record for the heaviest strongman deadlift in 2014 with 461 kg (1,016 lb), which stood until English strongman Eddie Hall lifted 462 kg (1,019 lb) the next year.
The 1993 World's Strongest Man was the 16th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Gary Taylor from the United Kingdom. It was his first title after finishing fifth the previous year. 1991 winner Magnus Ver Magnusson from Iceland was runner up for the second year in a row, and Riku Kiri from Finland finished third. The contest was held in Orange, France.
The 1990 World's Strongest Man was the 13th edition of the World's Strongest Man competition and was won by Jón Páll Sigmarsson from Iceland. It was his fourth title after finishing third the previous year, and his last as he did not compete in any future event before his 1993 death. O.D. Wilson from the United States finished second, and Ilkka Nummisto from Finland finished third after finishing sixth the previous year. The contest was held in Joensuu, Finland.
The 2001 World's Strongest Man was the 24th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Svend Karlsen from Norway. It was his first title after finishing second the previous year. 1998 winner Magnus Samuelsson from Sweden finished second after finishing third the previous year, and 2000 winner Janne Virtanen from Finland finished third. The contest was held at Victoria Falls, Zambia.
The 1983 World's Strongest Man was the seventh edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Geoff Capes from the United Kingdom. It was his first title. Jón Páll Sigmarsson from the Iceland finished second, and Simon Wulfse from the Netherlands third. The winner of the three previous competetitions, Bill Kazmaier, was not invited to compete again in this year. The contest was held at Christchurch, New Zealand. The title of the competition, formerly "World's Strongest Men", was changed to the current title for this competition.
The 1988 World's Strongest Man was the 11th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jón Páll Sigmarsson from Iceland. It was his third title. 1980, 1981 and 1982 winner Bill Kazmaier from the United States finished second, and Jamie Reeves from the United Kingdom finished third. The contest was held at Budapest, Hungary.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson, is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, the Europe's Strongest Man, and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year and holds numerous Strongman titles from multiple strength federations, including multiple world records. With 30 international competition wins, he is the third most decorated strongman in history, behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas and Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski, and in terms of pure brute strength, many strength analysts and strongman experts regard Hafþór as "the strongest man to have ever lived".
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 and ancient history going back many centuries with the legends of Orm Storolfsson and Grettir Ásmundarson to the 19th century traditional strongmen including Snorri Björnsson, Brynjólfur Eggertsson and Gunnar Salómonsson; before the televisation of strongman competitions in the late 1970s.
Magnús Magnússon is an Icelandic strongman competitor and former winner of Iceland's Strongest Man.
Magnus Magnusson (1929–2007) was an Icelandic-born and British-based television presenter, journalist, translator and writer.
The 2012 World's Strongest Man was the 35th edition of World's Strongest Man. The event was held on the grounds of the Commerce Casino in Los Angeles, California, US. The event was sponsored by MET-Rx. The qualifying heats were held from September 24–27, and the finals took place Sept. 30 & Oct. 1, 2012. The winner was Žydrūnas Savickas, it was his third WSM title. Vytautas Lalas of Lithuania was second, and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson was third.
The 2017 World's Strongest Man was the 40th edition of the World's Strongest Man competition. It was held in Gaborone, Botswana from May 20 to 28. The tournament was won by Eddie Hall of the United Kingdom, with Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson of Iceland second and defending champion Brian Shaw of the United States third. Hall announced after the competition that he would not defend his title. Four-time champion Zydrunas Savickas of Lithuania finished in ninth place; this marked the first time in his career that he failed to finish in the top three after qualifying for the final.
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