 The official logo of Beauty and the Beast 2001 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Hawaii |
| Established | 1998 |
| Final year | 2003 |
| Format | Multi-event competition |
| Final champion | |
 | |
The Beauty and The Beast Strongman Challenge, also known as the Beauty and The Beast World Strongman Challenge was a short-lived annual strongman competition that was notable for the calibre of the entrants it attracted, as well as for the reputation it attained in a short amount of time.
The Beauty and The Beast Strongman Challenge was organised and promoted by strongman competitor Odd Haugen from 1998. It was initially promoted on the IFSA circuit as the North American open championship and from its inception took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. In its first year it was dominated by the USA, with the winner being Mark Philippi, a successful athlete in other major tournaments such as World Muscle Power Classic.
Honolulu is the capital and largest city of the U.S. state of Hawaii. It is an unincorporated part of and the county seat of the City and County of Honolulu along the southeast coast of the island of Oʻahu. The city is the main gateway to Hawaiʻi and a major portal into the United States. The city is also a major hub for international business, military defense, as well as being host to a diverse variety of east-west and Pacific cultures, cuisine, and traditions.
Hawaii is a state of the United States of America. It is the only state located in the Pacific Ocean and the only state composed entirely of islands.
Mark Philippi is an American world champion powerlifter and strongman competitor. Philippi is a multiple entrant to the World's Strongest Man competition, and former holder of the America's Strongest Man title.
By 1999 the promoter and competitor, Odd Haugen had enticed many more international competitors including 1998 World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Samuelsson and 1997 World's Strongest Man winner Jouko Ahola. The previous year had been the final year of the original format World Strongman Challenge, and so Haugen appended this prestigious events title to the end of Beauty and The Beast, thus conituing the tradition of one of strength athletics more enduring brands. Ahola tested some of the events for Haugen and gave his approval by stating "This is like a Finnish competition, heavy. I like that." [1] With such pedigree the competition did draw on June 5 and 6, the top American competitors, as well as some of the biggest names on the international strongman circuit. [2] It was called the "24 Hour Fitness" "Beauty & the Beast" strongman competition and featured on ESPN's "American Muscle Magazine". The IFSA combined an IFSA Grand Prix and the IFSA American Championships into this event. [3] The promoter, Odd Haugen, placed third in the IFSA American Championships section of the competition, although no USA athlete made the Grand Prix podium. [4]
The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by IMG, an Endeavor company, 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.
Magnus Samuelsson, is a Swedish actor, former strongman and winner of the 1998 World's Strongest Man contest in Morocco. The son of a former Swedish arm wrestling champion, he has also been ranked among the best arm wrestlers in the world and was a European Arm Wrestling champion prior to becoming a professional strongman.
Jouko Ahola is a Finnish former strongman, power-lifter and actor.
2000 again attracted international strongmen who again dominated the standings, with Janne Virtanen winning the event. These championships were also notable for introducing the Rolling Thunder World Championships, seen as the event that determines the athlete with the greatest grip strength on the planet. In 2000 this was a kickoff event in a Honolulu sports bar the night before the strongman competition began. Those that entered included the four-time World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Ver Magnusson. [5]
Janne Virtanen is a Finnish former strongman who won the World's Strongest Man championship in 2000. He was runner-up in 1999 and finished third in 2001. His other championships include four-time Finland's Strongest Man, Beauty and the Beast (2000), Helsinki Grand Prix (2000), and the Turkey Grand Prix in 2002 in Istanbul. Following his second consecutive failure to reach the final of the World's Strongest Man in 2007, he announced his retirement but entered into the third qualifying heat of the competition in 2008. He currently earns his living as a carpenter in Finland.
The 2001 edition of Beauty and the Beast was held on June 2 and was a one-day, eight-event contest. [6] The podium saw three eventual winners of the World's Strongest Man title with Magnus Samuelsson, Phil Pfister and Svend Karlsen finishing first, second and third respectively. By now Odd Haugen was credited with having done an incredible job of organizing one of the great contests on the strongman circuit making this a preview for the World's Strongest man.
Phil Pfister is an American former strongman competitor, winning the 2006 Met-Rx World's Strongest Man competition and its $41,000 grand prize on September 23, 2006 in Sanya, China. He was the first American to win since Bill Kazmaier in 1982. Pfister stands 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) and weighs 375 pounds (170 kg).
Svend Viking Karlsen is a Norwegian former strongman, powerlifter, and IFBB professional bodybuilder. He is well known for shouting his catch phrase "Viking Power!" during competitions.
The 2002 edition of the Beauty and Beast was scheduled for June 8, featuring defending World's Strongest Man winner Svend Karlsen, along with other top competitors including Janne Virtanen, Hugo Girard, Martin Muhr, Wout Zijlstra, Phil Pfister, Karl Gillingham, Brian Schoonveld, Jesse Marunde, and Grant Higa. [7] The IFSA World Strongman Super Series was being heavily promoted in 2002 and Beauty and the Beast formed part of that. In the end, it became the Grand Prix Final held on January 17, 2003, finishing off the 2002 season. The very next day, a second Hawaii Grand Prix, again deemed Beauty and the Beast, was held as the opener for the 2003 IFSA World Strongman Super Series. Some deemed this a little farcical. This turned out to be the last holding of the event. Like the World Muscle Power Classic, once the Beauty and the Beast became entangled with the Super Series, it lost its stand alone gravitas and quickly fell from favour. In the tentative schedule for the 2004/05 Super Series there was to have been a November Hawaii Grand Prix, but that season was foreshortened and this did not take place. [8]
Hugo Girard is a Canadian former strongman. He is a Strongman Super Series world Champion, a four-time World Muscle Power champion and a six-time Canada's Strongest Man.
Martin Muhr is a strongman from Germany. He participated in the World's Strongest Man finals of 2000 and 2001.
Wout Zijlstra is a former strongman and Highland Games athlete from the Netherlands. He competed in the World's Strongest Man competition on two occasions.
The Beauty and the Beast was so-called because there were in fact two events running. The strongman equated to the Beast. The beauty was initially a bikini fitness challenge. In 2001 this was replaced by the first ever Women's Strength & Fitness Challenge. [9]
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place | Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2003 Hawaii Grand Prix 2003 (held Jan 18 2003) of 2003 Strongman Super Series | |  |  |  |
| 2002 Hawaii Grand Prix Final (held Jan 17 2003) of 2002 Strongman Super Series (24-Hour Fitness Grand Prix Final) |  | | | |
| 2001 |  | |  | |
| 2000 |  |  | | |
| 1999 | | |  | |
| 1998 | | | | |
The association between Strongman contests and the Rolling Thunder grip contests, as seen at Mohegan Sun Grand Prix events and Fortissimus began with Odd Haugen's Beauty and the Beast contests. The 2000 Rolling Thunder World Championships was a kickoff event in a Honolulu sports bar the night before the strongman competition began. [5] On May 31, 2001 the second annual IronMind Rolling Thunder World Championships were held in conjunction with the Beauty & the Beast strongman competition. Both 2000 and 2001 were won by Jan Bartl. No such championship was held in 2002, with the IFSA shifting the June 2002 date for the contest to January 2003. The world championships were not to be reintroduced until 2008.
| Date | Champion | Weight | Location |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2001 (May 31) |  | 258.5 lb Note 2 | |
| 2000 (May) | | 265.4 lb | |
The Strongman Super Series, known from 2001 to 2004 as the IFSA World Strongman Super Series, from 2005 to 2008 as the World's Strongest Man Super Series, and reverting in 2009 to the World Strongman Super Series, is a sequence of grand prix events in the sport of strength athletics. It was introduced in 2001 in response to concerns that, unlike other individual sports such as golf or tennis, there was no recognized international "tour" in strength athletics. The Strongman Super Series ensures that there are a number of high-profile, professionally run contests during the year, with competitors' placings being used to decide the overall Super Series Champion.
Žydrūnas Savickas is a Lithuanian powerlifter and professional strongman. He is the only modern competitor to have won every major strongman competition.
The International Federation of Strength Athletes was an international governing body for strongman competition. IFSA operated from 1995-2007 and was based in Glasgow, Scotland.
Derek Poundstone is an American former professional strongman athlete from Woodbridge, Connecticut who placed runner up to at the world's strongest man 2008. Derek Poundstone is also a police Sergeant for the Naugatuck, Connecticut Police Department and is the former owner and landlord of an apartment complex and gym.
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.
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Nick Best is an American professional strongman competitor and world champion powerlifter.
Karl Gillingham is an American professional strongman and powerlifter.
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The GNC Grip Gauntlet is a strength athletics contest that tests the grip strength of competing individuals over three disciplines, each designed to test one of the three recognised facets of hand strength: crushing; pinching; and supporting. It was developed by Wade and Brad Gillingham and became an internationally recognised contest featured at some of the world's most prominent strength athletics events and expos, including the Arnold Strongman Classic and the various WSM Super Series Grand Prixs. The last time the GNC Grip Gauntlet was run in a competitive format was the 2010 Arnold Classic. Since that time the challenge has changed to an informal challenge with no official results maintained. Prizes are still awarded for successful completion of the challenge.
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