Svend 'Viking' Karlsen (born 6 October 1967) is a
Norwegian former
strongman,
powerlifter, and
IFBB professional
bodybuilder. Being a winner of the
World's Strongest Man, the
Europe's Strongest Man, the
World Muscle Power Classic
The World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) (sometimes known as the World Muscle Power Championships) was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestig ...
and 3 times runner up at the
Arnold Strongman Classic, he is regarded as one of the best strongmen in history. He is also well known for shouting his catch phrase "Viking Power!" during competitions.
Powerlifting and bodybuilding
Karlsen started out as a powerlifter in 1986, winning a number of titles and setting 30
Norwegian records, 3
European records, and 1 world record. Soon after, Karlsen began pursuing a career in
bodybuilding. He traveled on the road doing posing exhibitions with some bodybuilding friends to help pay the bills. Karlsen won the
Mr. Norway title, and took second place at the
World Games. This victory earned him his
IFBB pro card and he could now compete as a professional. Karlsen moved to
California to focus on his bodybuilding career, and his first pro show was the IFBB Night of Champions. Karlsen suffered a severe muscle tear that forced him to retire from bodybuilding, and in 1996 he quickly moved on to
strongman competitions.
Strongman career
Karlsen competed in one of the
1996 World's Strongest Man
The 1996 World's Strongest Man was the 19th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Magnús Ver Magnússon from Iceland. This was Magnús' fourth WSM title, tying the record of fellow Icelander Jón Páll Sigmarsson. Riku Kiri from Finland ...
qualifying heats and narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. In the
1997 World's Strongest Man
The 1997 World's Strongest Man was the 20th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jouko Ahola from Finland. It was his first title. Flemming Rasmussen (strongman), Flemming Rasmussen from Denmark finished second after finishing fourth th ...
contest, Karlsen qualified for his first of 7 consecutive finals from 1997, 1999-2004 (did not compete in 1998). After finishing second in the Husafel Stone carry, Karlsen was leading the finals on points, but during the warm-up for the
squat event, he tore his
hamstring and had to withdraw from the rest of the contest. Karlsen returned in
1999
File:1999 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The funeral procession of King Hussein of Jordan in Amman; the 1999 İzmit earthquake kills over 17,000 people in Turkey; the Columbine High School massacre, one of the first major school shootin ...
, finishing in third place, and finished in second place in
2000
File:2000 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: Protests against Bush v. Gore after the 2000 United States presidential election; Heads of state meet for the Millennium Summit; The International Space Station in its infant form as seen from ...
behind eventual winner
Janne Virtanen. Karlsen finally became victorious at 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 ...
competition in
Victoria Falls,
Zambia.
Some of Karlsen's other notable strongman titles include
Europe's Strongest Man 2001, 3 time runner-up at the
Arnold Strongman Classic 2002-04,
World Muscle Power Championships
The World Muscle Power Classic (WMPC) (sometimes known as the World Muscle Power Championships) was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestig ...
2001 winner, and 3 time
Norway's Strongest Man in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Karlsen was the second athlete inducted into the World's Strongest Man Hall of Fame in 2010 as voted by the fans. He has a larger than life personality and, similar to his Scandinavian strongman predecessor
Jón Páll Sigmarsson, is known for his catchphrase "Viking Power". Among his best lifts in his early years were a 400 kg squat, 260 kg bench press and a 412.5 kg deadlift. In an interview in 1997, he claimed his most notable feat of strength was deadlifting 400 kg for 3 repetitions.
Personal records
*
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 ...
–
*
Squat –
*
Squat – x 14 reps (2002 WSM Final)
*
Deadlift –
*Raw
Deadlift – for 3 repetitions
* Farmer's walk – in each hand (70 meter course) in 22.87 seconds (2003 Finland Grand Prix)
Retirement
Karlsen retired from competition in 2006, and began serving as presenter and producer of the
Norwegian version of the
World's Strongest Man contest and the qualifying tour; Giants Live
After retirement
Karlsen is the event organizer for the
Norway's Strongest Man competition, introducing events and commentating. Karlsen was a co-commentator for the final event at the 2010
Arnold Strongman Classic. Karlsen also ran the Viking Power Challenge event in Norway, which was a part of the
Super Series and later
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 ...
tour for qualification into the
World's Strongest Man competition.
Other competitions
*Strongest Man in the North 1996 - 5
*World Series Strongman Challenge 1997 - 3
*European Hercules 1997 - 4
*Helsinki Grand Prix 1998 - 2
*Atlantic Giant 1998 - 3
*Helsinki Grand Prix 2000 - 3
*Ireland Grand Prix 2000 - 3
*Beauty & The Beast 2000 - 2
*Prague Grand Prix 2000 - 2
*Romania Grand Prix 2000 - 4
*China Grand Prix 2000 - 4
*Northeast Strongman Showdown 2001 - 1
*Polish Grand Prix 2001 - 3
*Europe's Strongest Man 2001 - 1
*Dutch Grand Prix 2001 - 3
*Beauty & The Beast 2001 - 3
*World Muscle Power 2001 - 2
*Prague Grand Prix 2001 - 2
*World Record Breakers 2001 - 1
*X-treme Strongman Challenge 2001 - 1
*Stockholm Grand Prix - 3
*Northeast Strongman Showdown 2002 - 2
*
Arnold Classic strongman Contest 2002 - 2
*Vantaa Challenge 2002 - 2
*Atlantic Giants 2002 - 1
*Clash of Titans 2002 - 1
*Clash of the Celtic giants 2002 - 2
*Europe Strongest Man 2002 - 3
*China Grand Prix 2002 - 1
*Sweden Grand Prix Super Series 2002 - 2
*Team World vs. Poland 2002 - 1
*Super Series Final 2002 - 2
*Hawaii Grand Prix Super Series - 9
*Arnold Classic Strongman contest 2003 - 2
*Helsinki Grand Prix 2003 - 6
*World Muscle & Power 2003 - 6
*Holland Grand Prix Super Series 2003 - 5
*Europe Strongest Man 2003 - 6
*Canada Grand Prix Super Series 2003 - 3
*World Team Championship 2003 - 5
*Finland Grand Prix Super Series 2003 - 4
*World Record Breaker 2003 - 5
*Norway Strongest Man 2003 - 1
*MHP X-TREME STRONGMAN Championship 2003 - 2
*Norway Strongest Man 2006 - 1
References
External links
Official web site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Karlsen, Svend
Norwegian bodybuilders
Norwegian powerlifters
Norwegian strength athletes
1967 births
Living people
Sportspeople from Drammen
Male powerlifters
20th-century Norwegian people
21st-century Norwegian people