Strength athletics in Norway refers to the participation of Norwegian competitors in the field of

strength athletics Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests Strongman (strength athlete), competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerl ...

in association with the

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 Decembe ...

History

The sport's roots have a long history going back many centuries before modern

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. These ...

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 Svend 'Viking' Karlsen (born 6 October 1967) is a Norway, Norwegian former Strongman (strength athlete), strongman, powerlifter, and International Federation of BodyBuilders, IFBB professional bodybuilder. Being a winner of the World's Strongest ...

winning the

2001 World's Strongest Man The 2001 World's Strongest Man was the 24th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Svend Karlsen from Norway. It was his first title after finishing second the previous year. 1998 winner Magnus Samuelsson from Sweden finished second aft ...

title, Norway's only WSM title. In recent years, Norway has had several top international competitors in WSM, including

Arild Haugen Arild "Hulk" Haugen (born 30 December 1985) is a former strongman and currently a professional boxer from Sirdal, Norway. He set the Guinness World Record for being the youngest World's Strongest Man competitor at the age of 20 years, 258 days duri ...

Richard Skog Richard Skog (born 16 June 1981) is a Norwegian strongman competitor. Before life as strongman he was a member of the Norwegian Armed Forces. Strongman career He was a part of the World's Strongest Man competition for four straight year ...

, Odd Haugen and

Espen Aune Espen Aune (born 1982) is a Norwegian professional strongman competitor and winner of the 2011 Norway's Strongest Man.Geir TverdaEspen Aune: Det handler om å være den sterkeste. Enkelt og greit. iform.no (2010-03-01). Retrieved on 2011-12-28. ...

National Competitions

Norway's Strongest Man

Norway's Strongest Man ( no, Norges Sterkeste Mann) is an annual

competition held in

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The event was established in 1998.

Kurt Kvikkstad Kurt is a male given name of Germanic or Turkish origin. ''Kurt'' or ''Curt'' originated as short forms of the Germanic Conrad, depending on geographical usage, with meanings including counselor or advisor. In Turkish, Kurt means "Wolf" and i ...

won in 1998 & 1999, with Roy Holte winning the next 3 years.

took the 2003, 2005, and 2006 titles.

won in 2007 & 2008.

won in 2009 & 2010.

won in 2011, Skog did not compete due to injury. Ole Martin Hansen is the most successful, having won the title four times.

Official results - top three places

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

Regional Competitions

Nordic Strongman Championships

The Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from

Iceland Iceland ( is, Ísland; ) is a Nordic island country in the North Atlantic Ocean and in the Arctic Ocean. Iceland is the most sparsely populated country in Europe. Iceland's capital and largest city is Reykjavík, which (along with its s ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and

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Magnus Samuelsson Magnus Samuelsson (born December 21, 1969), is a Swedish actor, former strongman and winner of the 1998 World's Strongest Man contest in Morocco. He has also made it to the World's Strongest Man podium 5 times and the finals 10 times and is rega ...

, ,

Juha-Matti Räsänen Juha-Matti Räsänen (born May 19, 1974) is a strongman competitor from Kuopio, Finland. Juha began training for strongman in 1995, began competing as an amateur in 1996 and turned professional in 2000. Juha competed in the 2001 and 2002 World's ...

, , IFSA Nordic Championships

Kristiansand Kristiansand is a seaside resort city and municipality in Agder county, Norway. The city is the fifth-largest and the municipality the sixth-largest in Norway, with a population of around 112,000 as of January 2020, following the incorporation ...

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Johannes Arsjo Johannes is a Medieval Latin form of the personal name that usually appears as "John" in English language contexts. It is a variant of the Greek and Classical Latin variants (Ιωάννης, ''Ioannes''), itself derived from the Hebrew name '' Yeh ...

, , Lars Rorbakken , , Michael Leicht , , Nordic Championships

Harstad ( se, Hárstták) is the second-most populated municipality in Troms og Finnmark county, Norway. It is mostly located on the large island of Hinnøya. The municipal center is the Harstad (town), town of Harstad, the most populous town in Centra ...

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References

Strongmen competitions Sport in Norway