Riku Kiri is a Finnish former strongman and powerlifter, best known for competing in the World's Strongest Man competition, narrowly missing out on capturing the title on more than one occasion. He has been referred to as: "the strongest man never to win World's Strongest Man."
Jouko Ahola is a Finnish former strongman, powerlifter and actor. He is a two time World's Strongest Man winner, a two time Europe's Strongest Man winner, and is regarded as one of the best pound for pound strongmen in history.
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, 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.
World's Strongest Woman is an annual strongwoman contest, and considered the pinnacle for female competitors and recognized as the world championships. The format was similar to the World's Strongest Man contest, and was held during the same time and same location as WSM from 2001 to 2003.
Ted van der Parre is a former strongman from the Netherlands, who won the World's Strongest Man contest in 1992 and was 4th in 1991. He also participated in 1994 when he finished 8th, having to drop out after the second event due to a calf injury. At 2.09 m and 160 kilograms (350 lb), Van der Parre was the tallest man ever to compete in the World's Strongest Man contest, and also has the lowest WSM BMI of 35. He also won the Netherlands Strongest Man contest in 1991, 1992, and 1994.
Phil Pfister is an American former strongman competitor and winner of the 2006 World's Strongest Man competition 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).
The 2004 World's Strongest Man was the 27th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Vasyl Virastyuk from Ukraine. It was his first title after finishing third the previous year. Zydrunas Savickas from Lithuania finished second for the third year in a row. Originally Mariusz Pudzianowski from Poland finished third, but was later disqualified after testing positive for a banned substance, thus third place was given to Magnus Samuelsson from Sweden. The contest was held in Nassau, Bahamas. The qualifying heats saw a major format change, going from the traditional 5-6 man heats with the top 2 going to the finals. This year's format was a 12-man round-robin competition taking place over 5 days, with the top six going onto the finals.
Berend Veneberg is a former strongman and powerlifter from the Netherlands. He finished 5th at the World's Strongest Man games in 1993, 9th in 1998, 6th in 1999, 1st at Europe's Strongest Man in 2000 and won Strongest man of the Netherlands 7 times.
Jarno Hams is a strongman from the Netherlands. He participated in the World's Strongest Man in 2002 and 2003, but failed to qualify for the finals both times. Hams is a 7-time winner of Strongest Man of the Netherlands.
Heinz Ollesch is a strongman from Germany. He won Germany's Strongest Man 12 times, and participated in the World's Strongest Man finals in 1995 and 1997.
Strength athletics in Canada refers to the various strongman events throughout Canada and its provinces in the sport of [strength athletics] in association with the World's Strongest Man. The roots of strongman in Canada go back long before the birth of WSM in 1977, particularly with [Louis Cyr] in the early 1900s, who was deemed the "Strongest Man on Earth" during his lifetime. Four Canadian athletes have finished on the podium, placing 2nd in 1982 with Tom Magee and 3rd in 2005 with Dominic Filiou, Jean-François Caron placing 3rd in 2020, and Maxime Boudreault placing 3rd in 2021. The provinces of Canada hold annual championships with the top 2-4 athletes going on to the National Championships at the end of the year to crown Canada's Strongest Man. Mitchell “Moose” Hooper's win in WSM 2023 makes him the first Canadian to finish in first place.
Strength athletics in Norway refers to the participation of Norwegian competitors in the field of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man.
Strength athletics in Finland refers to the participation of Finnish competitors and events in the field of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man.
Tomi Lotta is a Finnish strongman competitor. He has competed in both the World's Strongest Man and IFSA Strongman World Championships, but failed to make the finals in both events. His career best win is the 2004 Finland's Strongest Man title. He is known by his nickname "the Finnish Beach Boy". Lotta officially broke the Guinness world record for the forward hold while competing in Rome on March 5, 2010. His record setting time was 20 kg(44 lbs.) for 76.73 seconds.
Strength athletics in the United States refers to the various strongman events throughout United States and North America in the sport of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man ("WSM") contest. America has both an amateur and a professional sanctioning body.
Germany's Strongest Man is an annual strongman competition held in Germany and featuring exclusively German athletes. Heinz Ollesch holds the record for most wins with 12 wins.
Strength athletics in Sweden refers to the participation of Swedish competitors and events in the field of strength athletics in association with the World's Strongest Man.
Denmark's Strongest Man is an annual strongman contest held in various locations in Denmark, and features exclusively Danish strength athletes. The contest was first held in 1983 with Sven-Ole Thorsen winning the title. Flemming Rasmussen holds 7 wins, and René Minkwitz holds 5 wins. Anders Aslak is the current champ.
Gerard du Prie was a strongman and powerlifter from Egmond aan Zee in the Netherlands. He won two world titles in the superheavyweight class (+125 kg) at the World Masters Powerlifting Championships in 1983 and 1986, both times competing in the 40–49 age group. He was the Strongest Man of the Netherlands in 1979 and runner-up in 1982. He finished in eighth place at the 1980 World's Strongest Man competition.
Rebecca Roberts, is a Welsh strongwoman and grip athlete, current UK's Strongest Woman 2023 and winner of the 2021 World's Strongest Woman competition in Daytona Beach.
Kelvin de Ruiter