Jouko Ahola (born December 1, 1970) is a

Finnish Finnish may refer to: * Something or someone from, or related to Finland * Culture of Finland * Finnish people or Finns, the primary ethnic group in Finland * Finnish language, the national language of the Finnish people * Finnish cuisine See also ...

former

strongman In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength. More recently, strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, have grown in popularity. Thes ...

powerlifter Powerlifting is a strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight single-lift effor ...

and actor. He is a two time

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decem ...

winner, a two time

Europe's Strongest Man Europe's Strongest Man is an annual strength athletics competition which began in 1980. The event is held in various locations throughout Europe, and features exclusively European strongman competitors. Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the record for m ...

winner, and is regarded as one of the best pound for pound strongmen in history.

Strongman

Jouko is best known for winning both the

1997 File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; '' Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of ...

and

1999 World's Strongest Man The 1999 World's Strongest Man was the 22nd edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jouko Ahola from Finland. It was his second title after finishing second the previous year. Janne Virtanen also from Finland finished second, and Svend K ...

, and finishing second in

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for frozen water, in soil in permanently s ...

. Ahola also won the

contest twice, in 1998 and 1999, and finished fourth in 1996. Jouko won the World's Strongest Team in 1997 and 1999, and was second in 1998. Ahola set world records for the Hercules hold (45.7 sec, 197 kg) and Atlas Stones (215 kg). He is one of only ten men to be a repeat champion in the

competition. Jouko was a very successful strongman competitor, at 6' 1" (1.85 m) and 275 lbs (125 kg), corresponding to a BMI of 35.8, which is low by WSM standards.

Personal Records

*Bench press - ''raw'' *Squat - ''raw'' *Deadlift - ''raw''

Acting career

After his strongman career, Ahola has directed his focus towards films. So far, his most notable roles have been in '' Kingdom of Heaven'', '' Bad Day to Go Fishing'', ''

War of the Dead ''War of the Dead'' (also known as ''Stone's War'') is a 2011 action horror film written and directed by Marko Mäkilaakso and starring Andrew Tiernan, Mikko Leppilampi, Jouko Ahola, Samuli Vauramo, Andreas Wilson, Mark Wingett, and Antti Reini. ...

'' and ''

Invincible Invincible may refer to: Film and television * ''Invincible'' (2001 drama film), a drama by Werner Herzog about Jewish cabaret during the rise of Nazism * ''Invincible'' (2001 TV film), a fantasy / martial arts TV movie starring Billy Zane ...

''. Ahola starred in

Werner Herzog Werner Herzog (; born 5 September 1942) is a German film director, screenwriter, author, actor, and opera director, regarded as a pioneer of New German Cinema. His films often feature ambitious protagonists with impossible dreams, people with u ...

's 2001 film ''

'' as early 20th century Jewish strongman Zishe Breitbart. Jouko played a former world wrestling champion in Alvaro Brechner's 2009 film '' Bad day to go fishing'', (''Mal día para pescar''). The film premiered at

Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Festival (; french: link=no, Festival de Cannes), until 2003 called the International Film Festival (') and known in English as the Cannes Film Festival, is an annual film festival held in Cannes, France, which previews new films o ...

. Jouko appeared in the music video for Robin's "Faija skitsoo" in 2012. He also made a cameo appearance on the second season of ''

The Dudesons The Dudesons ( fi, Duudsonit) are a Finnish entertainment group. They are best known for their TV shows and live performances, which are a combination of stunts and comedy. Their early TV shows were similar to '' Jackass''. Starting their televi ...

'' TV series, which aired worldwide in 2008. Jouko also serves as a judge and event organizer for the

contest. In 2013 he appears in the new History Channel series ''

Vikings Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and ...

''.

Filmography

Miscellaneous

* He regards Arnold Schwarzenegger as his role model. * His nickname is "Jokke." * His name is often misspelled as ''Juoko Ahola'', Finnish for "Does Ahola drink?"

References

External links

* *
Interview 1997

Interview 1999
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ahola, Jouko 1970 births Living people People from Hämeenlinna Finnish male film actors Finnish strength athletes Finnish powerlifters