World's Strongest Viking

World's Strongest Viking
2014-2021
Tournament information
LocationNorway Vinstra, Norway
Month playedJanuary
Established2014
FormatMulti-event competition
Final champion
Dainis Zageris

World's Strongest Viking was an annual international Strongman competition organized by Strongman Champions League and held for eight consecutive years from 2014 to 2021 with participation of top strongman athletes in the world.[1] It was held under perilous weather conditions in winter, testing the athletes to their limits.[2]

The roots of the competition goes back to the Nordic Strongman Championships which was continued until 2013 with participation of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. In 2014, Giants Live upscaled it to global level, renaming the competition to 'World's Strongest Viking'.[1] In 2015, Strongman Champions League took over.[3] The competition was held every January in Vinstra, Norway under freezing weather conditions[2] and with vintage Viking events.

Among the most iconic events were Viking deadlift,[4] Viking boat pull,[5] Viking press, Viking ship mast super yoke,[6] Hercules hold, power stairs and Atlas stones. The competitions were noted for their heavily wood crafted implements and replicating historical feats of strength. One of the most legendary moments of the competitions came in 2015 when Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson surpassed the historical 1,000 years old Viking ship mast (Ormrinn langi) feat of strength by carrying a 650 kg (1,433 lb), 10 metres (33 ft) long, 1.41 metres (4 ft 8 in) circumference Viking ship mast on his back for 5 steps in −20 °C weather.[7][8]

Championship results

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
2014 [9] Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Sweden David Nyström United Kingdom Terry Hollands Vinstra, Norway
2015 [10] Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski Canada Jean-François Caron Vinstra, Norway
2016 [11] Canada Jean-François Caron Slovenia Matjaz Belsak Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski Vinstra, Norway
2017 [12] Canada Jean-François Caron Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski United States Luke Herrick Vinstra, Norway
2018 [13] Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski Germany Dennis Kohlruss United States Luke Herrick Vinstra, Norway
2019 [14] Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen Finland Mika Törrö Vinstra, Norway
2020 [15] Republic of Ireland Sean O'Hagan Latvia Aivars Šmaukstelis Finland Mika Törrö Vinstra, Norway
2021 [16] Latvia Dainis Zageris Netherlands Kelvin de Ruiter Norway Henrik Hildeskor Vinstra, Norway
  • The competitions were also known by the names Giants Live Norway in 2014 and SCL Norway from 2015 to 2021.

World records

  • Viking Boat pull (with the sails intact) – 3,000 kg (6,614 lb) harness only/ no rope for 25 meters 'in ice terrain' - 18.87 seconds
    Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (2015)[10]
  • Viking Boat pull (without the sails) – 3,000 kg (6,614 lb) harness only/ no rope for 25 meters 'in ice terrain' - 16.67 seconds
    Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski (2017)[12]
  • Viking Press (for reps) – 160 kg (353 lb) x 19 reps
    Norway Bjørn Andre Solvang (2017)[12]
  • Viking Sword front hold (27 kg (60 lb)) – 1 minute 33.01 seconds
    Sweden David Nyström (2014)[9]
  • Viking lumberjack tree-sledge pull – 900 kg (1,984 lb) harness only/ no rope for 24 meters 'in ice terrain' - 26.06 seconds
    Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (2014)[9]

References

  1. ^ a b "World's Strongest Viking 2014". Giants Live. Retrieved 3 September 2024.
  2. ^ a b "SCL Norway aka The World's Strongest Viking". Randall J. Strossen, IronMind Enterprises, Inc. Retrieved 27 January 2015.
  3. ^ "World's Strongest Viking 2021". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 30 January 2021.
  4. ^ "World's Strongest Viking 2020". Strongman Champions League. Retrieved 29 January 2020.
  5. ^ "Strongman Champions League - World's Strongest Viking 2015". YouTube. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  6. ^ "KRZYSZTOF RADZIKOWSKI IS THE WORLD'S STRONGEST VIKING 2018". Starting Strongman. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  7. ^ Randall J. Strossen (1 January 2015). "Hafthor Wins World's Strongest Viking, Sets Sights on World's Strongest Man". IronMind. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  8. ^ a b Kyle Newport (3 February 2015). "The Mountain from 'Game of Thrones' Breaks 1,000-Year-Old Weightlifting Record". Bleacher Report. Retrieved 4 March 2018.
  9. ^ a b c "2014 Giants Live Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
  10. ^ a b "2015 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
  11. ^ "2016 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
  12. ^ a b c "2017 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
  13. ^ "2018 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
  14. ^ "2019 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
  15. ^ "2020 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
  16. ^ "2021 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.