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29-465: Typically, ten to twelve athletes take part in each GP, comprising the top six in the international rankings and at least four qualifiers or wildcard entries. The winner of each grand prix receives ten series points, the second placed, nine, and so on. The highest scoring competitor at the end of the series is named World Champion. World Class Events ("WCE") ran the Super Series in co-operation with

58-530: A back injury. A year later, he reached the 2007 World's Strongest Man finals, eventually finishing in 5th place. However, after failing to make the finals in the 2008 World's Strongest Man contest, Samuelsson announced his retirement from competition after 14 years competing in the sport. He held the record for reaching the World's Strongest Man finals ten times, achieving a podium on five separate occasions. With 31 career podium finishes Samuelsson finished as one of

87-863: A fifth place finish, but won the 1999 IFSA Czech Grand Prix. He also won second at 1999 Viking of the North, 1999 Beauty and the Beast and third at 1999 Atlantic Giant. He also won his fourth Sweden's Strongest Man title. 2000 was another prolific year for him with four wins in 2000 IFSA Grand Prix competition in Ireland, Poland, Romania and China. He also secured second place in 2000 Europe's Strongest Man, IFSA Finland Grand Prix and came third at 2000 World's Strongest Man in South Africa securing his third podium finish. He also came third in 2000 Atlantic Giant and won his fifth national title. In 2001, Samuelsson became

116-682: A second place in 1993 as his best performance. He was also renowned for having 'the world's strongest arms and hands'. Samuelsson's strongman career started with winning 1995 Sweden's Strongest Man . It qualified him for 1995 World's Strongest Man in Bahamas where he made it to the finals but only managed a tenth place finish. In 1996, he won the national title for the second time and won second place in 1996 World Muscle Power Classic behind Forbes Cowan . At 1997 World's Strongest Man in Nevada , USA he secured his first of five podium finishes of

145-486: A series of Grand Prix events throughout the year. Between 2005 and 2007 IFSA had their own version of other major events such as a rival IFSA version of Europe's Strongest Man , known as Europe's Strongest Man (IFSA) . Thus, the world of strength athletics became fragmented, with a number of individuals being able to lay claim to be the strongest in the world by virtue of having won mutually exclusive events. Athletes affiliated to IFSA Strongman were not allowed to compete in

174-489: A single competition other than the national title. He placed third at World Muscle Power Classic. In 2004 he won the Sweden Grand Prix beating Žydrūnas Savickas and Svend Karlsen. After competing in the 2005 IFSA Strongman World Championship in 2005 and winning his ninth Sweden's Strongest Man title, he returned to compete in the 2006 World's Strongest Man but failed to make it past the qualifying rounds due to

203-456: Is a Swedish actor, former Strongman and the 1998 World's Strongest Man . Known as the 'king of the stones', he made it to the World's Strongest Man podium 5 times and the finals 10 times and is regarded as one of the greatest strongmen in history. The son of a former Swedish arm wrestling champion, he has also been ranked among the best arm wrestlers in Europe during early to mid 90's with

232-476: The International Federation of Strength Athletes ("IFSA") from 2001 to 2004 until IFSA cut ties with WCE and World's Strongest Man and began promoting their own grand prix events and world championships. In 2005, WCE signed a deal with Trans World International ("TWI"), the world's largest independent producer and distributor of sports programming, to have the exclusive rights worldwide to be

261-914: The Mohegan Sun Casino in Uncasville, Connecticut , and the second event being the Viking Power competition in Norway, and finishing off the 2009 season in Poland. * WSM Super Series The International Federation of Strength Athletes co-produced the Strongman Super Series events from 2001 to 2004 along with World Class Events (WCE)/Ulf Bengtsson. Beginning in 2005, WSM/WCE cut all ties with IFSA, who had begun promoting their own separate grand prix events and world championships. The Strongman Super Series then became known as

290-870: The Strongman Super Series being apparent. The 2009 World's Strongest Man was therefore anticipated by the strength athletics world as promising to be "the best one yet" because the organisers could ensure invites were made to "every top athlete in the world" regardless of their affiliation to any particular strength athletics body. Dates: 25 September 2005 Quebec City, Canada [REDACTED] Dates: 24, 25 November 2006 Reykjavik, Iceland [REDACTED] Dates: 12–15 September 2007 Geumsan, South Korea [REDACTED] Beginning in 2005, IFSA cut all ties with World's Strongest Man and Strongman Super Series and began hosting their own grand prix events and world championships from 2005 to 2007. Developed by Ilkka Kinnunen and Marcel Mostert,

319-880: The World's Strongest Man ("WSM"), which is produced by TWI and thus neither WSM and its associated Strongman Super Series nor the IFSA circuit could claim to have a comprehensive field of the top athletes. Some events did exist that bridged the divide between the major organizations, such as the Arnold Strongman Classic and Fortissimus . After the 2007 IFSA World Championships in South Korea , news began to circulate of athletes not being paid, and equipment shipping costs not being honored. IFSA eventually ended up owing $ 63,000 for shipping their equipment from England to South Korea and finally to Philadelphia . When

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348-541: The World's Strongest Man Super Series and was the official qualifying tour for World's Strongest Man from 2005 to 2008. Giants Live replaced the World's Strongest Man Super Series beginning in 2009 as the official qualifying tour for the World's Strongest Man . However, Strongman Super Series continued to hold events under the new title of World Strongman Super Series in 2009 & 2010. International Federation of Strength Athletes The International Federation of Strength Athletes ( IFSA or IFSA Strongman )

377-568: The 2003 documentary 'The World's Strongest Arms', together with fellow World's Strongest Man champion Svend Karlsen , Samuelsson demonstrated world class feats of strength such as performing bicep curls with 140 kg (309 lb) for 4 repetitions, bench pressing 270 kg (595 lb) for 2 repetitions, unofficially surpassing Andrus Murumets 121.1 kg (267 lb) Rolling Thunder world record, three times with lifts of 123.9 kg (273.2 lb), 126.1 kg (278.0 lb) and 129.6 kg (285.7 lb) and unofficially becoming

406-489: The Strongman Champions League was launched in 2008 as "a new episode in strongman". It negotiated with IFSA to use its athletes. Since the end of 2008, the Strongman Champions League still operates independently after the dissolution of IFSA: Events were planned in the following locations but cancelled: Dubai, Germany and Hungary Magnus Samuelsson Magnus Samuelsson (born December 21, 1969),

435-555: The Strongman Super Series. The Strongman Super Series was designed to award the annual Strongman World Championship title, but also acted as a qualifying vehicle for the World's Strongest Man contest. For almost a decade IFSA and WSM worked in full cooperation, but this changed at the end of the 2004 season when IFSA returned to organizing its own grand prix events and World Strongman Championships from 2005 to 2007. The InvestGroup Ventures' sports rights management arm, InvestGroup Sports Management, invested heavily into IFSA and this led to

464-438: The all-time most successful strongman competitors. In 1995, Samuelsson accidentally broke the arm of Australian wrestler Nathan Jones during heats of the 1995 World's Strongest Man . The injury occurred because Jones employed the novice technique of side twisting. The action combined with Samuelsson's own body strength resulted in a snapped humerus . Samuelsson is specially noted for his exceptional arm and grip strength. In

493-466: The competition, by placing third behind Jouko Ahola and Flemming Rasmussen . He also secured fifth place finishes in 1997 Europe's Strongest Man and World Strongman Challenge and won his third national title. At 1998 World's Strongest Man in Morocco he emerged victorious, becoming the eleventh man to win the title. Jouko Ahola won second and Wout Zijlstra emerged third. He scored 73 points in

522-548: The competitors in strength athletics including Jamie Reeves , Ilkka Kinnunen and Marcel Mostert formed a governing body called the International Federation of Strength Athletes ("IFSA"). IFSA ran its own grand prix events from 1995 to 2001 in cooperation with WSM. IFSA began co-producing the Strongman Super Series events from 2001 to 2004, still in cooperation with WSM. IFSA entered an agreement with World Class Events (WCE), headed by Ulf Bengtsson, to run

551-401: The creation of IFSA Strongman. The strategy was to acquire most of the international assets and properties relating to the strongman sport. In essence this was a new organization with some, such as Magnus Samuelsson describing it as "a new company...with the same name as our old federation". The attempt at dominance was not well received by TWI/WSM and disagreement ensued leading to a split in

580-548: The end of 2007, the Strongman Champions League still operated independent of IFSA. Gradually, the last vestiges of IFSA influence began to diminish which led to the breaking down of barriers between the various concurrent circuits. Strength athletes were able to compete in more than one circuit and did so, with a cross over of athletes between the Giants Live circuit, the Strongman Champions League and

609-560: The final and won four events and came second in another two. Samuelsson also won 1998 World Strongman Challenge and Atlantic Giant. At the 1998 IFSA Helsinki Grand Prix he managed a fourth place finish and at 1998 IFSA German Grand Prix he managed a fifth place finish. He did not participate at the Sweden's Strongest Man hence his brother Torbjörn Samuelsson won the title for the first time. At 1999 World's Strongest Man in Malta he dropped to

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638-815: The final. Samuelsson plays Gunnar Nyberg, a detective in the 2011 Swedish crime thriller series Arne Dahl . It has also been aired in Germany and UK . The series are now available on Amazon Prime . Samuelsson plays Clapa in the BBC's The Last Kingdom . A hulking Danish warrior, Clapa becomes one of the main protagonist Uhtred's best fighters, but his savagery in battle belies a warm heart and loyalty to his comrades that holds no bounds. Samuelsson lives in Tidersrum in Östergötland . He and his brother, Torbjörn, are both full-time farmers . Throughout his career, he has been supported at every competition by his wife Kristin,

667-508: The first man in history to close the IronMind Captains of Crush No. 4 gripper (165.5 kg (365 lb)/ RGC 213 of pressure) for two reps. Following year, Samuelsson officially closed the legendary gripper under official conditions and to this date remains one of only six men to do so. Done in the gym During strongman competitions Magnus Samuelsson was offered a role in the film Gladiator , but declined. One of

696-431: The money was not paid, the equipment was put up for sale and was eventually purchased by other strongman contest promoters. The 2007 IFSA World Championships would be the final contest run solely by, and under the banner of, IFSA. In 2008 IFSA executives Ilkka Kinnunen and Marcel Mostert developed the Strongman Champions League and negotiated with IFSA to use its athletes. However, the dissolution of IFSA meant that since

725-592: The only qualifying tour to the MET-Rx World's Strongest Man event for 2005–2008. The top four athletes from each Grand Prix competition receive an automatic invitation to WSM . On April 27, 2009 Giants Live , an arena-based series of live strongman competitions, was named the Official World's Strongest Man Qualifying Tour for 2009–2011, thus taking over from the Strongman Super Series in this regard. The first 2009 qualifying event took place on May 17 at

754-649: The overall champion of the Strongman Super Series . He also emerged second at 2001 World's Strongest Man held in Zambia behind his good friend Svend Karlsen . He also secured second at Holland Grand Prix and emerged third at Europe's Strongest Man, World Muscle Power Classic and Czech Grand Prix. In 2002 World's Strongest Man in Malaysia he injured himself in the squat event and had to withdraw. In 2003 World's Strongest Man in Zambia he placed fourth and couldn't win

783-516: The reasons he declined was that he believed the film was going to be a B movie . The agent who had phoned him to offer the role had told him that he would "fight with swords and so", and also named a couple of actors in the cast, which Magnus Samuelsson did not recognize. In 2009 Samuelsson won the Swedish version of the television series Dancing with the Stars , beating songwriter Laila Bagge in

812-526: The sport. When IFSA and WSM split in 2004, the Strongman Super Series sided with TWI/WSM forming a rival federation to the IFSA. With the WSM being a TWI owned event, IFSA Holdings announced its own World Strongman Championships for 2005, to be held in Quebec , and thus from that point had no involvement in the WSM contest. From this point, IFSA continued to organize the annual IFSA World Strongman Championships and

841-507: Was an international governing body for strongman competition. IFSA operated from 1995 to 2007 and was based in Glasgow , Scotland . In 1995, David Webster , a Scotsman who later received an OBE for his services to sport and head coordinator of the World's Strongest Man from its inception, and his colleague Dr Douglas Edmunds , seven-times Scottish shot and discus champion and twice world caber champion, along with representatives from

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