Stefán Sölvi Pétursson (born 20 March 1986) is an Icelandic

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 ...

and a finalist of 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 ...

competition, winning 4th place in the

2010 World's Strongest Man The 2010 World's Strongest Man was the 33rd edition of World's Strongest Man held at Sun City, North West, Sun City, South Africa from Sept. 15–22. Zydrunas Savickas won his second title, Brian Shaw (strongman), Brian Shaw placed second moving u ...

competition held in

Sun City (South Africa) Sun City is a luxury resort and casino, situated in the North West Province of South Africa. It is located between the Elands River and the Pilanesberg, about 140 km northwest of Johannesburg, near the city of Rustenburg. The complex borde ...

and 9th place in the

2011 World's Strongest Man The 2011 World's Strongest Man was the 34th edition of World's Strongest Man and was held on the campus grounds of Wingate University in Wingate, North Carolina, US. The event was sponsored by MET-Rx. The qualifying heats were scheduled for Septe ...

competition held in

Wingate, North Carolina Wingate is a town in Union County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 3,491 at the 2010 census. History The Wingate Commercial Historic District was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2014. It is named for W ...

. He has also won Icelandic Strongman competitions multiple times including Iceland’s Strongest Man in 2009 and 2010.

Career

Stefán was just 20 when he won his first major senior strongman title, becoming Iceland's Strongest Viking in 2006. At 22 years and 178 days, he is also the 7th youngest athlete in history to qualify for the World's Strongest Man competition. Prior to that he had concentrated on powerlifting, but being inspired by

Jón Páll Sigmarsson Jón Páll Sigmarsson (28 April 1960 – 16 January 1993) was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's Stronge ...

he continued with the sport of strongman. That same year he finished second in the IFSA version of the Iceland's Strongest Man, eventually winning the title in 2008. He was invited to the prestigious

Highlander World Championships The Highlander Challenge World Championships (or more simply the Highlander Challenge or Gododdin Highlander Challenge) is a tournament that marries traditional Highland games with more contemporary strength athletics. It was created to help rei ...

in 2008, as well as an invitation to

Fortissimus The Fortissimus is a defunct event in strength athletics. The name means "the mightiest" and was a multi-event challenge at the end of which the winner is crowned as the "Strongest Man on Earth". It was set up to bring together the strongest compe ...

in 2008 where he won 8th place out of a stacked field of 13. In 2009 he won third place in the

Giants Live Giants Live was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three ...

Poland and again 3rd place in 2010 in the

Turkey. He also won 2nd place in 2012 King of the Castle competition in

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 again 2nd place in 2012

All-American Strongman Challenge The All-American Strongman Challenge is a leading competition in strength athletics that takes place within the annual Californian FitExpo. Although North America has a number of prestigious strongman events determining the "Strongest Man in Amer ...

. Later in 2012, tragedy struck as Stefán was diagnosed with

Supraventricular tachycardia Supraventricular tachycardia (SVT) is an umbrella term for fast heart rhythms arising from the upper part of the heart. This is in contrast to the other group of fast heart rhythms – ventricular tachycardia, which start within the lower cham ...

which took him about 3 years to recover. Returning to Strongman, Stefán unfortunately sustained a major injury during the frame carry event at

2016 Europe's Strongest Man The 2016 Europe's Strongest Man was a strongman competition that took place in Leeds, England on 9 July 2016 at the First Direct Arena. This event was part of the 2016 Giants live tour. Laurence Shahlaei won the competition defeating the defend ...

and had to withdraw from competing again until full recovery. Stefán was intrigued with the sport of

after seeing

Jón Páll Sigmarsson Jón Páll Sigmarsson (28 April 1960 – 16 January 1993) was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's Stronge ...

, whom he considers as one of his biggest inspirations. Apart from Jón Páll, he has also cited

Žydrūnas Savickas Žydrūnas Savickas (; born ...

as someone he has deep admiration for, and his good friend and long term training partner

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English, born 26 November 1988), is an Icelandic professional strongman, who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person t ...

, believing them to be the strongest strongmen ever. In 2018, Stefán co-produced and starred in the documentary film 'Fullsterkur' (literally translates as 'full strength' in English) which explores the history and culture of heavy stone lifting in Iceland. Stefán's favourite strongman event is also Natural stone loading.

Personal Records

Strongman

* Squat - 330 kg (727 lb) *

Bench press The bench press, or chest press, is a weight training exercise in which the trainee presses a weight upwards while lying on a weight training bench. Although the bench press is a full-body exercise, the muscles primarily used are the pectorali ...

- 230 kg (507 lb) *

Deadlift The deadlift is a weight training exercise in which a loaded barbell or bar is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting exercises, ...

- 390 kg (860 lb), 300 kg (661 lb) for 8 reps * Log press - (2010 World's Strongest Man - Finals) * Axel press - x 3 strict presses ''(with minimal leg drive)'' *

Atlas stones Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully ...

- 5 stones in 18.35 seconds (2010 Giants Live Turkey) *

- one motion to a 5 ft 4 in platform. *

Keg toss Keg-tossing (or keg toss or weight over bar) is a sport that involves the heaving of a standard 15.5 gallon beer keg. Most people would refer to this type of keg as a "half-keg" or "half-barrel." The keg must be completely emptied before it should ...

- 8 kegs over 5.0 metres in 23.53 seconds (2009 World's Strongest Man - Group 2) *

- over 5.8 metres (19 ft 1 in) * Farmer's walk/ Frame carry - (no straps) for 30m in 23.25 seconds (2011 World's Strongest Man - Finals) * Truck pull - for 25m in 50.07 seconds (2009 World's Strongest Man - Group 2)

Powerlifting

* Squat - 305 kg (672 lb) *

- 225 kg (496 lb) *

- 370 kg (816 lb)

References

External links

Official Site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pétursson, Stefán Sölvi Icelandic strength athletes 1986 births Living people Place of birth missing (living people)