Strength athletics in Norway
Strength athletics in Norway refers to the participation of Norwegian competitors and holding national strongman competitions.
History
The sport's roots have a long history going back many centuries before modern strongman competitions in the 1970s. However, Norway did not come onto the international scene in modern times until the mid-1990s. Norway has had mixed success on the international stage, with Svend Karlsen winning the 2001 World's Strongest Man title, Norway's only WSM title. In recent years, Norway has had several top international competitors in WSM, including Arild Haugen, Richard Skog, Odd Haugen and Espen Aune.
National Competitions
Norway's Strongest Man
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Norway |
| Month played | September |
| Established | 1998 |
| Format | Multi-event competition |
| Current champion | |
| Norway Håkon Heitmann Kollerød (2024) | |
Norway's Strongest Man (Norwegian: Norges Sterkeste Mann) is an annual strongman competition and the main national title of Norway. The event was established in 1998 and has produced fourteen champions throughout the years.[1] Kurt Kvikkstad won in 1998 & 1999, with Roy Holte winning the next 3 years. Then emerged Svend Karlsen, Norway's greatest strength athlete who took the 2003, 2005, and 2006 titles. In 2004 Mattis Bjorheim won the title. Arild Haugen won in 2007 & 2008 and Richard Skog won in 2009 & 2010.[1] Espen Aune won in 2011[2] and then emerged Ole Martin Hansen who won the title four times from 2012 to 2015.[3] Jørgen Skaug Aukland won in 2016 followed by Bjørn André Solvang in 2017. Then emerged Ole Martin Kristiansen who won the title three times from 2018 to 2020. Jonas Bathen won in 2021, Henrik Hildeskor in 2022 & 2023 and Håkon Heitmann Kollerød in 2024.
Champions breakdown
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1998 | Norway Kurt Kvikkstad | Norway Thomas Johansen | Norway Roy Holte |
| 1999 | Norway Kurt Kvikkstad | Norway Marius Bjerke | Norway Roy Holte |
| 2000 | Norway Roy Holte | Norway Odd Haugen | Norway Olaf Dahl |
| 2001 | Norway Roy Holte | Norway Kurk Kvikkstad | Norway Frank Nagy |
| 2002 | Norway Roy Holte | Norway Olaf Dahl | Norway Frank Nagy |
| 2003 | Norway Svend Karlsen | Norway Odd Haugen | Norway Reider Kvåle |
| 2004 | Norway Reider Kvåle[4] | Norway Espen Aune[5] | Norway Olaf Dahl[5] |
| 2005 | Norway Svend Karlsen | Norway Reider Kvåle | Norway Olaf Dahl |
| 2006 | Norway Svend Karlsen | Norway Arild Haugen | Norway Reider Kvåle |
| 2007 | Norway Arild Haugen | Norway Espen Aune | Norway Odd Haugen |
| 2008 | Norway Arild Haugen | Norway Richard Skog | Norway Odd Haugen |
| 2009 | Norway Richard Skog | Norway Arild Haugen | Norway Lars Rørbakken |
| 2010 | Norway Richard Skog | Norway Espen Aune | Norway Bjørn André Solvang |
| 2011 | Norway Espen Aune | Norway Lars Rørbakken | Norway Bjørn André Solvang |
| 2012 | Norway Ole Martin Hansen | Norway Lars Rørbakken | Norway Espen Aune |
| 2013 | Norway Ole Martin Hansen | Norway Bjørn Andre Solvang | Norway Øyvind Rein |
| 2014 | Norway Ole Martin Hansen | Norway Espen Aune | Norway Bjørn Andre Solvang |
| 2015 | Norway Ole Martin Hansen | Norway Bjørn Andre Solvang | Norway Espen Aune |
| 2016 | Norway Jørgen Skaug Aukland | Norway Ole Martin Hansen | Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen |
| 2017 | Norway Bjørn André Solvang | Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen | Norway Jon Olav Granli |
| 2018 | Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen | Norway Nils Kjetil Sande | Norway Jonas Bathen |
| 2019 | Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen | Norway Bjørn André Solvang | Norway Jørn Erik Bolstad |
| 2020 | Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen | Norway Henrik Hildeskor | Norway Stefan Sekej |
| 2021 | Norway Jonas Bathen | Norway Stefan Sekej | Norway Øyvind Gustavsen |
| 2022 | Norway Henrik Hildeskor | Norway Morten Linge | Norway Dag Rune Stangeland |
| 2023[6] | Norway Henrik Hildeskor | Norway Tommy Kåsin | Norway Morten Linge |
| 2024[7] | Norway Håkon Heitmann Kollerød | Norway Henrik Hildeskor | Norway Andre Vrålid |
- Results courtesy of David Horne's World of Grip http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/strongmanresults.html
Repeat champions
| Champion | Times & years |
|---|---|
| Norway Ole Martin Hansen | 4 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) |
| Norway Roy Holte | 3 (2000, 2001, 2002) |
| Norway Svend Karlsen | 3 (2003, 2005, 2006) |
| Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen | 3 (2018, 2019, 2020) |
| Norway Arild Haugen | 2 (2002, 2003) |
| Norway Richard Skog | 2 (2009, 2010) |
| Norway Henrik Hildeskor | 2 (2022, 2023) |
Regional Competitions
Nordic Strongman Championships
Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.[8]
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | Norway Svend Karlsen | Sweden Magnus Samuelsson | Finland Juha-Matti Räsänen |
| 2012[8] | Sweden Johannes Årsjö | Norway Lars Rorbakken | Denmark Mikkel Leicht |
| 2013 | Sweden Johannes Årsjö | Norway Ole Martin Hansen | Finland Juha-Matti Järvi |
- In 2005, the competition was held under IFSA in Kristiansand, and in 2012 and 2013 in Harstad, Norway under Giants Live.
- From 2014 onwards, the competition was promoted to global level, re-titled as the World's Strongest Viking and was held consecutively for 8 years under Strongman Champions League.
International Competitions
World's Strongest Viking
Norway hosted the World's Strongest Viking competition every January in freezing weather conditions.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2014 [9] | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Sweden David Nyström | United Kingdom Terry Hollands |
| 2015 [10] | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski | Canada Jean-François Caron |
| 2016 [11] | Canada Jean-François Caron | Slovenia Matjaz Belsak | Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski |
| 2017 [12] | Canada Jean-François Caron | Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski | United States Luke Herrick |
| 2018 [13] | Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski | Germany Dennis Kohlruss | United States Luke Herrick |
| 2019 [14] | Poland Krzysztof Radzikowski | Norway Ole Martin Kristiansen | Finland Mika Törrö |
| 2020 [15] | Republic of Ireland Sean O'Hagan | Latvia Aivars Šmaukstelis | Finland Mika Törrö |
| 2021 [16] | Latvia Dainis Zageris | Netherlands Kelvin de Ruiter | Norway Henrik Hildeskor |
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Giants Live
Norway was also the venue for one of Giants Live grand prix competitions with the participation of top athletes of the world. The competition was named Viking Power Challenge.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2009 | United States Travis Ortmayer | Norway Richard Skog | Russia Mikhail Koklyaev |
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "PREVIOUS STRONGMAN CONTESTS TOP 3". Davidhorne-gripmaster.com. Retrieved 2010-06-14.
- ↑ Norway’s Strongest Man: Strongman and More
- ↑ "Norway's Strongest Man". Strongman Archives.
- ↑ "iform.no". Retrieved 2010-08-25.
- ↑ 5.0 5.1 "treningsforum.no". Retrieved 2010-12-06.
- ↑ "Norway's Strongest Man 2023". Strengthresults.com. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
- ↑ "Norway's Strongest Man 2024". Strengthresults.com. Retrieved 2024-11-09.
- ↑ 8.0 8.1 "Nordic Strongman Championships: Viking Loses His Title!". Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2012-06-21.
- ↑ "2014 Giants Live Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 5 April 2014.
- ↑ "2015 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 31 January 2015.
- ↑ "2016 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 30 January 2016.
- ↑ "2017 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 29 January 2017.
- ↑ "2018 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 28 January 2018.
- ↑ "2019 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 26 January 2019.
- ↑ "2020 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 25 January 2020.
- ↑ "2021 SCL Norway". strongmanarchives.com. Retrieved 24 July 2021.