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.

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 other international competitions, and is often regarded as the strongest nation on Earth.[1][2]

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 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 Andrés Guðmundsson, 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.[3]

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; in addition to Westfjord's Viking, Grundarfjord Viking, Highland Viking, Eastfjord Strongman Championships and Thor's Powerlifting Challenge.

Iceland’s Strongest Man

In 1985, the very first Iceland's Strongest Man contest was held[4] and it was not for the faint-hearted. Three of the six competitors ended up in hospital.[5] Jón Páll won the competition while Hjalti Árnason emerged second and Magnús Ver 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 placed Icelander. This has only happened on 2 occasions when the legendary Bill Kazmaier of the United States 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 Place
1985 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon
1986 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon
1987 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon
1988 Bill Kazmaier United States Magnús Ver Magnússon Hjalti Árnason
1989 Magnús Ver Magnússon Hjalti Árnason Torfi Ólafsson
1990 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Andrés Guðmundsson Hjalti Árnason
1991[6][7] Magnús Ver Magnússon Hjalti Árnason Björgvin Filippusson
1992 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Andrés Guðmundsson
1993 Magnús Ver Magnússon Andrés Guðmundsson
1994 Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Torfi Ólafsson & Audunn Jónsson
1995 Magnús Ver Magnússon Torfi Ólafsson Andrés Guðmundsson
1996 Magnús Ver Magnússon Hjalti Árnason Andrés Guðmundsson
1997 Torfi Ólafsson
1998 Regin Vagadal Faroe Islands Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Torfi Ólafsson
1999[8] Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Audunn Jónsson & Torfi Ólafsson
2000[9] Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Torfi Ólafsson Audunn Jónsson
2001 Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnús Magnússon Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson
2002[10] Magnus Magnusson Audunn Jónsson Grétar Guðmundsson
2003 Benedikt Magnússon Audunn Jónsson Grétar Guðmundsson
2004 Magnús Ver Magnússon Benedikt Magnússon Audunn Jónsson
2005[11] Kristinn Oskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Adrian Rollinson United Kingdom Guðjón Gíslason
2006[12] Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Don Pope United States Jens Fylkisson
2007[13] Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Terry Hollands United Kingdom Don Pope United States
2008 Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Orri Geirsson
2009 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Páll Logason
2010 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Benedikt Magnússon Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson
2011[14] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Páll Logason
2012 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Páll Logason
2013 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Páll Logason Ari Gunnarsson
2014 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Páll Logason Úlfur Orri Pétursson
2015 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Fannar Smári Vilhjálmsson
2016 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Ari Gunnarsson
2017 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Sigfús Fossdal
2018 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Sigfús Fossdal
2019 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Tom Stoltman United Kingdom Luke Stoltman United Kingdom
2020 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Ari Gunnarsson
2021 Stefán Karel Torfason Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Kristján Sindri Níelsson
2022 Kristján Jón Haraldsson Stefán Karel Torfason Páll Logason
2023 Kristján Jón Haraldsson Vilius Jokužys Theodór Már Gudmundsson

Champions breakdown

Champion Times Years
Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson 10 (consecutive) 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020
Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon 7 1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2004
Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson 5 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992
Iceland Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson 4 (consecutive) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008
Iceland Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson 3 1994, 1999, 2000
Iceland Stefán Sölvi Pétursson 2 (consecutive) 2009, 2010
Iceland Kristján Jón Haraldsson 2 (consecutive) 2022, 2023
Iceland Torfi Ólafsson 1 1997
Iceland Magnús Magnússon 1 2002
Iceland Benedikt Magnússon 1 2003
Iceland Stefán Karel Torfason 1 2021
United States Bill Kazmaier 1 1988
Faroe Islands Regin Vágadal 1 1998

Most podium finishes without winning the title

Athlete Times (breakdown)
Iceland Hjalti Árnason 8 (6 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd)
Iceland Ari Gunnarsson 7 (4 x 2nd, 3 x 3rd)
Iceland Audunn Jónsson 6 (4 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd)
Iceland Páll Logason 6 (2 x 2nd, 4 x 3rd)
Iceland Andrés Guðmundsson 5 (3 x 2nd, 2 x 3rd)
Iceland Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð 3 (3 x 2nd)
Iceland Grétar Guðmundsson 2 (2 x 3rd)
Iceland Sigfús Fossdal 2 (2 x 3rd)

Strongest Man in Iceland

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place
2010[15] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Benedikt Magnússon Páll Logason
2011[16] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Georg Ögmundsson
2012[17] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Páll Logason
2016[18] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Stefán Sölvi Pétursson
2017[19] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Òskar Pétur Hafstein Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð
2018 Ari Gunnarsson Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð André Bachmann
2019 Ari Gunnarsson Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Kristján Jón Haraldsson
2020 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Stefán Karel Torfason Òskar Pétur Hafstein
2021 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Kristján Jón Haraldsson Tómas Darri Thorsteinsson
2022 Kristján Jón Haraldsson Vilius Jokužys Theodór Már Gudmundsson
2023 Kristján Jón Haraldsson Vilius Jokužys Pálmi Guðfinnsson

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
1999 Andrés Guðmundsson
2005 Benedikt Magnússon
2006 Benedikt Magnússon Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Georg Ögmundsson
2008 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Páll Logason Grétar Guðmundsson

Iceland's Strongest Viking

This contest dates back to 1992[20] however, 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
1998 Regin Vagadal  Faroe Islands Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Torfi Ólafsson
2000 Magnús Ver Magnússon Audunn 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 Audunn Jónsson
2004 Magnús Ver Magnússon Benedikt Magnússon Jon Valgeir Williams
2005[21] Magnús Ver Magnússon Magnus Magnusson Georg Ögmundsson
2006[22] 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[20] Páll Logason Ari Gunnarsson
2011 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Ari Gunnarsson
2012 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Georg Ögmundsson
2020 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Ari Gunnarsson Stefán Karel Torfason
2021 Ari Gunnarsson Kristján Jón Haraldsson Stefán Karel Torfason
2022 Kristján Jón Haraldsson Stefán Karel Torfason Kristján Sindri Níelsson
2023 Vilius Jokužys Kristján Sindri Níelsson Sigfús Fossdal

Other competitions

Regional Competitions

Nordic Strongman Championships

The Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.[23]

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
2005 Norway Svend Karlsen Sweden Magnus Samuelsson Finland Juha-Matti Räsänen Norway IFSA Nordic Strongman Championships Kristiansand, Norway
2012[23] Sweden Johannes Årsjö Norway Lars Rorbakken Denmark Michael Licht Norway Nordic Strongman Championships Harstad, Norway

See also

References

  1. ^ Tuesday, June 15, 2021, The Giants of Iceland - Strength Beyond Measure by Richard Chapman, Verified Expert - www.guidetoiceland.is
  2. ^ Monday, October 17, 2022, Jamaica makes sprinters. Kenya makes marathoners. And Iceland makes Strongmen! by Greg Merritt - www.guidetoiceland.is
  3. ^ "Strongman Archives - Athletes". Strongman Archives. 5 April 2022. Retrieved 6 April 2022.
  4. ^ Wednesday, June 17, 2009, Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind
  5. ^ Friday, June 19, 2015, Hafthor: 5X Iceland’s Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind
  6. ^ 2 september 1991, Sterkasti maður íslands 1991: Magnús Ver sigraði
  7. ^ In 1991 Jón Páll Sigmarsson was unable to compete due to injury sustained in Denmark. Andrés Guðmundsson took fourth place
  8. ^ Iceland's Strongest Man 1999, archived from the original on 2021-12-21, retrieved 2021-03-27
  9. ^ Sunday, June 18, 2000, Gunnar Thor Wins Icelandic Strongest Man... by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind[permanent dead link]
  10. ^ Monday, June 17, 2002, Magnus Magnussson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind
  11. ^ Saturday, June 18, 2005, Boris Wins Iceland's Strongest Man, Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind
  12. ^ Tuesday, June 20, 2006, Iceland's Strongest Man Contest: Boris Wins, Qualifies for WSMSS, by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind
  13. ^ Boris Repeats as Iceland’s Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D.
  14. ^ "Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man". Archived from the original on 2011-06-23. Retrieved 2011-06-20.
  15. ^ "Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins 2010 Strongest Man in Iceland". Archived from the original on 2011-12-10. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  16. ^ "Hafthor Julius Bjornsson Wins the Strongest Man in Iceland". Archived from the original on 2011-06-12. Retrieved 2011-06-06.
  17. ^ "Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Wins Strongest Man in Iceland". Archived from the original on 2013-03-16. Retrieved 2012-06-04.
  18. ^ "Hafthor Wins Strongest Man in Iceland".
  19. ^ "Hafthor Wins Strongest Man in Iceland Viking Challenge 2017".
  20. ^ a b Monday, July 12, 2010, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Wins Iceland’s Strongest Viking: Magnús Ver Magnússon Praises His Progress by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind
  21. ^ Ironmind report, 2005 Iceland's Strongest Viking
  22. ^ "Ironmind report, 2006 Iceland's Strongest Viking". Archived from the original on 2011-07-13. Retrieved 2010-10-03.
  23. ^ a b "Nordic Strongman Championships: Viking Loses His Title!". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
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