Strength athletics in Finland

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.

History

Finland had enormous success on the international stage in the 1990s and early 2000s, having won 3 World's Strongest Man titles, and numerous major European and international competitions. In particular, Jouko Ahola was the 1997 World's Strongest Man & 1999 World's Strongest Man champion, Janne Virtanen won the 2000 World's Strongest Man, and Riku Kiri was a 3 time consecutive Europe's Strongest Man champion from 1995-1997. In recent years Finland has struggled in the major international scene, having not made the finals of WSM since 2002, and not having any major international victories.

National competitions

Finland's Strongest Man

Finland's Strongest Man

2011
Tournament information
Location	Finland
Established	1987
Format	Multi-event competition
Current champion
Jarno Jokinen

Finland's Strongest Man is an annual strongman held every year in Finland since 1987.Jón Páll Sigmarsson, Bill Kazmaier and Hjalti Arnason were guests in the competition but their placings were not included in the final results. Both Janne Virtanen and Jani Illikainen hold the record with 4 wins, Ilkka Nummisto and Riku Kiri hold 3 wins each as well.

Top 3 placings

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place
1987	Arto Lyytikäinen	Markku Suonenvirta	Jari Leino/Kari Pötrönen
1988	Riku Kiri
1989	Markku Suonenvirta	Ilkka Nummisto
1990	Ilkka Nummisto	Markku Suonenvirta
1991	Ilkka Nummisto	Markku Suonenvirta
1992	Ilkka Nummisto	Jukka Laine	Marko Varalahti
1993	Riku Kiri	Marko Varalahti	Jarmo Ruotsalainen
1994	Riku Kiri	Harri Simonen	Jorma Ojanaho
1995	Marko Varalahti	Sami Heinonen	Jukka Laine
1996	Jorma Ojanaho	Jouko Ahola	Marko Varalahti
1997	Jouko Ahola	Sami Heinonen	Jorma Ojanaho
1998	Janne Virtanen	Matti Uppa	Jukka Laine
1999	Janne Virtanen	Sami Heinonen	Juha-Matti Räsänen
2000	Janne Virtanen	Sami Heinonen	Juha-Matti Räsänen
2001	Janne Virtanen	Juha-Matti Räsänen	Pasi Paavisto
2002	Juha-Matti Räsänen	Sami Heinonen	Harri Simonen
2003	Juha-Matti Räsänen	Esa Qvintus	Tomi Lotta
2004	Tomi Lotta	Juha-Matti Räsänen	Jani Illikainen
2005	Jani Illikainen	Matti Uppa	Juha-Pakka Aitala
2006	Jani Illikainen	Juha-Matti Räsänen	Esa Qvintus
2007	Jani Illikainen	Jani Kolehmainen	Janne Hartikainen
2008	Jani Illikainen
2009	Juha Matti Jarvi
2010	Pedro Karlsson
2011	Jarno Jokinen	Pedro Karlsson

• Results courtesy of David Horne's World of Grip: http://www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com/strongmanresults.html

Repeat champions

Champion	Times
Janne Virtanen	4
Janni Illikainen	4
Riku Kiri	3
Ilkka Nummisto	3
Juha-Matti Räsänen	2

Regional competitions

Nordic Strongman Championships

The Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.

Year	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Location
2005	Svend Karlsen	Magnus Samuelsson	Juha-Matti Räsänen	IFSA Nordic Strongman Championships Kristiansand, Norway
2012	Johannes Arsjo	Lars Rorbakken	Michael Licht	Nordic Strongman Championships Harstad, Norway