Giants Live

Giants Live
2013
The official logo of Giants Live
Tournament information
Location Various
Established 2009
Format Multi-event competition
Purse varies

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 strongman come together and compete over six events. The top 3 at each contest gain an invitation to compete in the World's Strongest Man contest for that same year.

History

On April 27, 2009 Giants Live was named the Official World's Strongest Man Qualifying Tour for 2009–2011, thus taking over from the Strongman Super Series in this regard. The first 2009 qualifying event took place on May 17 at the Mohegan Sun Casino Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and with the second event being the Viking Power competition.[1]

Giants Live was licensed the exclusive rights by IMG Sports Media, the creator and owner of the World’s Strongest Man competition. Previously, the qualifying tournament was known as the IFSA Strongman Super Series from 2001-2004, and the World’s Strongest Man Super Series from 2005-2008. Strongman Super Series continued to operate under the title of "Strongman Super Series" in 2009 and 2010, but did not have WSM qualifying status. The Qualifying status went with Giants Live and Colin Bryce, the Tour's producer.

At each Grand Prix event, in common with previous such series, each competitor competes in six different tests of strength with the winner crowned Grand Prix Champion. The top three athletes at each tournament win a qualifying slot at the World’s Strongest Man final.

Along with the Strongman Champions League, this event made important progress in acting as a fundamental part of a unifying movement for world strength athletics by making plans to help SCL get its athletes to the 2009 World's Strongest Man contest. SCL chief, Mostert, stated that "The top 5 SCL athletes will have places in the Giants Live tour for qualifying at World's Strongest Man (WSM) 2009". In addition, he also stated that wild cards for the WSM will include SCL athletes. He went on to say that "Finally we made it all possible again that all the athletes have chances to qualify for the WSM, which means in my opinion the WSM will have the strongest field ever in her history!" He went on to thank TWI/IMG and Giants Live for their part in making these possibilities. This was groundbreaking because for a number of years prior to this, the athletes under the IFSA had been banned by the federation from entering WSM (since the IFSA fell out of favour with TWI). Likewise, the athletes invited to participate in WSM were not invited to participate in IFSA events. Some competitions bridged the divide, such as the Arnold Strongman Classic and more recently Fortissimus, but neither had the history or gravitas, or indeed popular appeal of the iconic World's Strongest Man. The IFSA athletes, with the demise of the IFSA finances, almost all competed in SCL from 2008. This deal, along with the Fortissimus deal before it, united strongman in a way it had not been since 2004.

Producers

Giants Live is a collaboration between IMG Media and Power Productions UK - owned by Colin Bryce:

Event results

2009

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
Mohegan Sun Grand Prix 2009[2]
17 May 2009		United States Derek PoundstoneUnited States Travis OrtmayerUnited States Brian ShawUnited States Mohegan Sun Casino Arena, Connecticut
Viking Power Challenge 2009[3]
6 June 2009		United States Travis OrtmayerNorway Richard SkogRussia Mikhail KoklyaevNorway Stavanger, Norway
Giants Live Poland[4]
1 August 2009		Poland Jarek DymekUnited Kingdom Mark FelixIceland Stefan Solvi PeturssonPoland Malbork, Poland

2010

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
Giants Live-South Africa
10 April 2010[5]		United States Brian ShawRussia Mikhail KoklyaevUnited Kingdom Terry HollandsSouth Africa Johannesburg, South Africa
Giants Live-Kiev
30 May 2010[6]		United States Derek PoundstoneUnited Kingdom Laurence ShahlaeiSweden Johannes ArsjoUkraine Kiev, Ukraine
Giants Live-London
19 June 2010
Europe's Strongest Man 2010		Lithuania Zydrunas SavickasUnited Kingdom Terry HollandsUnited Kingdom Mark FelixEngland London, England
Giants Live-Poland
8 August 2010[7]		Lithuania Vytautas LalasPoland Robert SzczepanskiPoland Janusz KulagaPoland Poland
Giants Live-Istanbul
24 October 2010[8]		Lithuania Zydrunas SavickasUnited States Brian ShawIceland Stefan Solvi PeturssonTurkey Istanbul, Turkey

2011

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
Giants Live-London
March 19, 2011[9]		United States Brian ShawUnited Kingdom Laurence ShahlaeiLithuania Vytautas LalasEngland London, England
Giants Live-Poland
August 6, 2011[10]		Poland Krzysztof RadzikowskiUnited States Mike JenkinsPoland Mateusz BaronPoland Stróże, Poland
Giants Live-Finland
August 13, 2011[11]		Austria Martin WildauerLithuania Vidas BlekaitisEstonia Rauno HeinlaFinland Vaasa, Finland
Giants Live-Ukraine
August 24, 2011[12]		Ukraine Serhiy RomanchukUnited Kingdom Mark FelixUnited States Josh ThigpenUkraine Poltava, Ukraine

Giants Live 2011 Finnish qualifiers

  • Giants Live teamed with Strongman Champions League in 2011 to set up 4 qualifying events to gain entry in the Giants Live Finland event. The events were open only to Finnish athletes.[13]
Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location

May 13, 2011[14]		Finland Juha Matti JarviFinland Antti MourujärviFinland Pedro KarlssonFinland Pori, Finland

May 21, 2011[15]		Finland Juha Matti JarviFinland Kai PasanenFinland Jarno KirseläFinland Masku, Finland

May 28, 2011[16]		Finland Juha Matti JarviFinland Jarno KirseläFinland Kai PasanenFinland Jyväskylä, Finland

June 14, 2011[17]		Finland Juha Matti JarviFinland Jarno KirseläFinland Janne IllikainenFinland Oulu, Finland
  • The top 4 Finnish athletes to qualify for the Giants Live Finland event on August 13, 2011 were:[17]
Position Name Country Points
1.Juha Matti JarviFinland60
2.Jarno KirseläFinland44
3.Kai PasanenFinland30
4.Tomi Lotta(via SCL series)Finland17

2012

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
Giants Live-Australia
March 17, 18 2012[18] 		United States Mike JenkinsUnited States Nick BestUnited States Mike BurkeAustralia Melbourne, Australia
Giants Live-Finland
June 10, 2012[19] 		United Kingdom Laurence ShahlaeiSweden Johannes ArsjoEstonia Lauri NamiFinland Tampere, Finland
Giants Live-Hungary
June 17, 2012[20] 		Hungary Akos NagyEngland Jack McIntoshUnited States Josh ThigpenHungary Budapest, Hungary
Giants Live-England
June 23, 2012
Europe's Strongest Man 2012[21]		Lithuania Zydrunas SavickasLithuania Vytautas LalasUnited Kingdom Laurence ShahlaeiEngland Leeds, England
Giants Live-Poland
July 21, 2012[22]		Poland Krzysztof RadzikowskiPoland Mateusz BaronPoland Sebastian KurekPoland Kartuzy, Poland

2013

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
Giants Live-Australia
March 9, 10 2013[23] 		United States Derek PoundstoneUnited States Nick BestSouth Africa Frankie ScheunAustralia Melbourne, Australia
Giants Live-Hungary
June 22, 2013[24] 		United States Mike BurkeUnited Kingdom Eddie HallNorway Bjorn Andre SolvangHungary Budapest, Hungary
Giants Live-England
June 29, 2013
Europe's Strongest Man 2013[25]		Lithuania Žydrūnas SavickasLithuania Vytautas LalasPoland Krzysztof RadzikowskiEngland Leeds, England
Giants Live-Norway
July 6, 2013
Nordic Championships 2013[26]		Sweden Johannes ArsjoNorway Ole Martin HansenFinland Juha Matti JarviNorway Norway
Giants Live-Poland
Aug. 3, 2013[27]		Lithuania Vytautas LalasPoland Krzysztof RadzikowskiEstonia Lauri NamiPoland Poland
Giants Live-Gateshead
Aug. 3, 2013[27]		United Kingdom Laurence ShahlaeiUnited States Jerry PritchetUnited Kingdom Terry HollandsEngland Gateshead,. England

2014

Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location
Giants Live-Australia (FitX 2014)
March 8, 2014[28] 		Iceland Hafþór Júlíus BjörnssonAustralia Warrick BrantSouth Africa Frankie ScheunAustralia Melbourne, Australia
Giants Live-England (British Open Championships)
March 16, 2014		United Kingdom Eddie HallUnited Kingdom Graham HicksUnited Kingdom Laurence ShahlaeiEngland Doncaster Dome, Doncaster, England
Giants Live-Norway (World's Strongest Viking)
April 5, 2014
Iceland Hafþór Júlíus BjörnssonSweden David NyströmUnited Kingdom Terry HollandsNorway Norway
Giants Live-Poland
May 2, 2014		Lithuania Zydrunas SavickasPoland Mateusz BaronPoland Rafal KobylarzPoland Dolina Charlotty, Poland
Giants Live-Hungary
June 21, 2014		United States Jason BergmannSlovenia Matjaz BelsakUnited Kingdom Eddie HallHungary Budapest, Hungary
"Europe's Strongest Man 2014"
Aug 9, 2014		Iceland Hafþór Júlíus BjörnssonSweden Johannes ArsjoUnited Kingdom Graham Hicks England Leeds, England

References

  1. ↑ GIANTS LIVE NAMED OFFICIAL QUALIFYING TOUR FOR WORLD'S STRONGEST MAN COMPETITION
  2. ↑ Official Results
  3. ↑ Travis Ortmayer Wins Giants Live - Viking Power Challenge by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. 2009 IronMind
  4. ↑ Dymek, Felix and Petursson: Looking Good at Giants Live . . . Ready for WSM by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. 2009 IronMind
  5. ↑ Randall J. Strossen, Brian Shaw Wins Giants Live-World’s Strongest Man Qualifier in South Africa, Tuesday, April 13, 2010 Ironmind
  6. ↑ Randall J. Strossen, Giant Live-Kiev: Derek Poundstone, Laurence Shahlaei and Johnannes Arsjo Qualify for World’s Strongest Man 2010, Monday, May 31, 2010 Ironmind
  7. ↑ Vitautas Lalas Wins Giant Live - Poland, Qualifies for World’s Strongest Man
  8. ↑ Giants Live: Savickas and Shahlaei Attack the Apollon’s Axle
  9. ↑ Giant Live - London: Brian “The Evolution” Shaw Wins the Title, WSM Invitation
  10. ↑ Radzikowski Wins Giants Live Poland, Jenkins is Second
  11. ↑ Martin Wildauer Wins Giants Live Finland
  12. ↑ Sergii Romanchuk Wins Giants Live–Ukraine
  13. ↑ Giants Live - Finland Announced
  14. ↑ Juha Matti Jarvi Wins First Finnish Strongman Qualifier
  15. ↑ Juha Matti Jarvi Wins Again in Finland
  16. ↑ Juha Matti Jarvi: Three Contests, Three Wins
  17. 1 2 Juha Matti Jarvi Wins Fourth Giants Live Finnish National Qualifier
  18. ↑ Mike Jenkins Wins Giants Live–FitX Melbourne 2012
  19. ↑ Laurence Shahlaei Wins Giants Live–Finland
  20. ↑ Akos Nagy Wins Giants Live–Hungary
  21. ↑ Zydrunas Savickas Wins Europe’s Strongest Man
  22. ↑ Polish Sweep at Giants Live, WSM Update
  23. ↑ Giants Live–Melbourne FitX: Poundstone Wins with One Arm
  24. ↑ Giants Live-Budapest: Burke, Hall and Solvang Qualify for WSM
  25. ↑ The Worlds Strongest Man Qualifying Tour
  26. ↑ http://www.giants- live.com/calendar.jsp
  27. 1 2 The Worlds Strongest Man Qualifying Tour
  28. ↑
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