Strongman Super Series

World Strongman Super Series 2010
The official logo of World Strongman Super Series 2010
Tournament information
Location	Various
Established	2001
Format	Multi-event competition
Current champion
Brian Shaw

The Strongman Super Series, known 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.

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 and signed a deal with TWI (the world’s largest independent producer and distributor of sports programming) to have the exclusive rights worldwide to be the only qualifying tour to the MET-Rx World's Strongest Man event for 2006-2008.^[1] 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 the Mohegan Sun Casino Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and with the second event being the Viking Power competition, Giants Live appears to be mirroring the Super Series for its desired locations.^[2]

Super Series World Champions

Year	Athlete	Nationality
2001	Magnus Samuelsson	Sweden
2002	Hugo Girard	Canada
2003/4	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Poland
2004/5	Žydrūnas Savickas	Lithuania
2005*	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Poland
2006*	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Poland
2007*	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Poland
2008*	Derek Poundstone	United States
2009	Brian Shaw	United States
2010	Brian Shaw	United States

*WSM Super Series

2001

The official logo of IFSA World Strongman Super Series from 2001 to 2004

Eight elite competitors were selected by IFSA to compete in all events of the grand prix series. They were:

• Janne Virtanen
• Svend Karlsen
• Hugo Girard
• Mariusz Pudzianowski
• Magnus Samuelsson
• Derek Boyer
• Glenn Ross
• Wout Zijlstra

Additional athletes were selected on a per-event basis.^[3] Points were awarded based on the position in the event, in the following manner: 1st:6; 2nd:5; 3rd:4; 4th:3; 5th:2; and 6th:1.

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Dutch Grand Prix 2001	Wout Zijlstra	Magnus Samuelsson	Svend Karlsen
Czech Grand Prix 2001 (Hammer Strength) (August 2001)[4]	Hugo Girard	Svend Karlsen	Magnus Samuelsson	Prague
Stockholm Grand Prix 2001 (27th October)	Magnus Samuelsson	Hugo Girard	Svend Karlsen	Scandinavian Fitness Expo in Älvsjö, Stockholm
Overall placings	Magnus Samuelsson (15pts)	Hugo Girard (13pts)	Svend Karlsen (13pts)	Stockholm

Notes

• Wout Zijlstra of the Netherlands was in fourth place on 9pts.^[5]
• The Scottish Grand Prix 2001 (21st/22nd July) (also called World Muscle Power 2001) was not one of the Super Series Grand Prix's in the 2001 series. (The results of this, held in Mintlaw) were 1st:Hugo Girard, 2nd: Svend Karlsen.

2002

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Aberdeen Grand Prix (World Muscle Power 2002)	Svend Karlsen	Hugo Girard	Janne Virtanen	Aberdeen
Sweden Grand Prix 2002 (Hammer Strength)	Hugo Girard	Svend Karlsen	Zydrunas Savickas	Sweden
Hawaii Grand Prix Final (held in Jan 2003) (24-Hour Fitness Grand Prix Final)	Hugo Girard	Zydrunas Savickas	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Hawaii
Overall placings	Hugo Girard	Svend Karlsen	Zydrunas Savickas	Canada

2003/04

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Hawaii Grand Prix 2003	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Raimonds Bergmanis	Zydrunas Savickas	Hawaii
Dutch Grand Prix 2003	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Zydrunas Savickas	Jarno Hams	Netherlands
Canada Grand Prix 2003	Hugo Girard	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Svend Karlsen	Canada
Finland Grand Prix 2003	Hugo Girard	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Raimonds Bergmanis	Finland
Arnold's Strongest Man and Grand Prix Final 2003/4	Zydrunas Savickas	Svend Karlsen	Raimonds Bergmanis	Columbus, Ohio
Overall placings	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Zydrunas Savickas	Raimonds Bergmanis	Poland

Super Series 2004/2005

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Moscow Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Zydrunas Savickas	Vasyl Virastyuk	Moscow
Sweden Grand Prix	Magnus Samuelsson	Zydrunas Savickas	Svend Karlsen	Sweden
Overall placings	Zydrunas Savickas	Vasyl Virastyuk	Mariusz Pudzianowski/ Magnus Samuelsson

The tentative schedule for 2004/05 was to have been: May - Germany Grand Prix; July - Russia Grand Prix; August - Canada Grand Prix; August - Sweden Grand Prix; November - Hawaii Grand Prix; March - USA Grand Prix Final.^[6]

WSM Super Series 2005

The official logo of World Strongman Super Series from 2005 to 2008

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Met-Rx Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jesse Marunde	Janne Virtanen	Muscle Beach
Nautilus Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Slawomir Toczek	Jesse Marunde	Poland
Vulkan Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Janne Virtanen	Jesse Marunde	Sweden
Mohegan Sun Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jessen Paulin	Don Pope	Mohegan Sun Arena
Overall placings	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jesse Marunde	Janne Virtanen

WSM Super Series 2006

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Arnold Strongman Classic 2006	Žydrūnas Savickas	Vasyl Virastyuk	Mikhail Koklyaev	Columbus, Ohio
Moscow Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Elbrus Nigmatullin	Jessen Paulin	Russia
Poland Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jarek Dymek	Sebastian Wenta	Poland
Mohegan Sun Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jesse Marunde	Josh Thigpen	Mohegan Sun Arena
Overall placings	Mariusz Pudzianowski	TBC	TBC

WSM Super Series 2007

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Mohegan Sun Grand Prix	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Kevin Nee	Mark Felix	Mohegan Sun Arena
Venice Beach Super Series	Dave Ostlund	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jesse Marunde	Venice Beach
Viking Power Super Series 2007	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Jarek Dymek	Magnus Samuelsson	Norway
Overall placings	Mariusz Pudzianowski	TBC	TBC

WSM Super Series 2008

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Mohegan Sun Grand Prix	Derek Poundstone	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Terry Hollands	Mohegan Sun Arena
Madison Square Garden Super Series	Travis Ortmayer	Derek Poundstone	Dave Ostlund	Madison Square Garden
Viking Power Super Series 2008	Arild Haugen	Sebastian Wenta	Richard Skog	Storefjell Resort Hotel
Sweden Super Series	Magnus Samuelsson	Tarmo Mitt	Richard Skog	Lysekil, Sweden
Overall placings	Derek Poundstone

World Strongman Super Series 2009

Giants Live replaced the Super Series from 2009 as the official qualifying tour for the World's Strongest Man. However, the dotFIT World Strongman Super Series continued in 2009, taking over from the World's Strongest Man Super Series.^[7] The class of athletes is of a high quality with such notables as Marshall White, Nick Best, Johannes Arsjo, Brian Shaw, Stojan Todorchev and Janne Virtanen competing.

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Bucharest Grand Prix July 4th 2009	Marshall White	Nick Best	Johannes Arsjo	Centre Ville Complex, Bucharest
Los Angeles Grand Prix formerly Venice Beach Super Series Nov 14 2009[8]	Brian Shaw	Stojan Todorchev	Jason Bergmann	Venice Beach
Gothenburg Grand Prix formerly Sweden Super Series World Final Dec 5th 2009[9]	Brian Shaw	Stojan Todorchev	Jason Bergmann	Congress Hall, Gothenburg, Sweden
Overall placings[9]	Brian Shaw (27pts)	Stojan Todorchev (24pts)	Nick Best (21pts)

The New York Grand Prix (formerly Madison Square Garden Super Series) was scheduled for September 26th 2009 at Madison Square Garden but was cancelled due to the proximity of its date to that of the World's Strongest Man at which its top athletes were competing.

Events from 2001 to 2006 from Archive of www.super-series.com

WSM Super Series 2010

Event	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
Mohegan Sun Grand Prix[10] April 25, 2010	Derek Poundstone	Brian Shaw	Stojan Todorchev	Mohegan Sun Arena
Svend Karlsen Viking Power Challenge[11] June 26, 2010	Brian Shaw	Johannes Arsjo	Laurence Shahlaei	Storefjell Resort Hotel
Swedish Grand Prix Dec. 17, 2010[12]	Brian Shaw	Nick Best	Laurence Shahlaei	Sweden
Overall placings[13]	Brian Shaw (33 pts.)	Dave Ostlund (19.5 pts.)	Laurence Shahlaei (16 pts.)

See also

• List of strongman competitions

References

1. ^ WCE AND TWI SHOW STRENGTH IN PARTNERSHIP
2. ^ GIANTS LIVE NAMED OFFICIAL QUALIFYING TOUR FOR WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN COMPETITION
3. ^ IFSA Grand Prix Competitors Named . . . by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2008 IronMind
4. ^ Girard Wins IFSA Prague Super Series by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2008 IronMind
5. ^ Sweden's Strongest Man site
6. ^ archive of official site of IFSA super series
7. ^ Official site breaking news
8. ^ Brian Shaw: Strong Showing at World Strongman Super Series by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind
9. ^ ^{a b} Brian Shaw Wins Big at World Strongman Super Series: Takes Swedish Grand Prix and Overall Title by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind
10. ^ Randall J. Strossen, Derek Poundstone Three-Peats at the Mohegan Sun: World Strongman Series Grand Prix Winner, Ironmind, Sunday, April 25, 2010
11. ^ Randall J. Strossen, Brian Shaw Wins Viking Power Challenge, Ironmind, June 26, 2010
12. ^ http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2010/Dec/Brian_Shaw_Wins_World_Strongman_Super_Series_Swedish_Grand_Prix_and_Overall_Title.html
13. ^ http://www.ironmind.com/ironmind/opencms/Articles/2010/Dec/Brian_Shaw_Wins_World_Strongman_Super_Series_Swedish_Grand_Prix_and_Overall_Title.html

External links

• WSM Super Series Official website to 2008
• World Strongman Super Series Official website from 2009