Heat Results for International Qualifying 

World's Strongest Man 1997, Heat 1 

Competitors: 
 
Magnus Ver Magnusson (Iceland) 
Age: 34 years old
Height: 6'2
Weight: 287lbs
Chest: 51"
Biceps: 20"

Svend Karlsen (Norway) 

Age: 30 years old
Height: 6'2
Weight: 309lbs
Chest: 61"
Biceps: 22"

Joe Onosai (Samoa) 

Age: 32 years old
Height: 6'4
Weight: 375lbs
Chest: 65"
Biceps: 22"
Brian Bell (Scotland) 
Age: 30 years old
Height: 6'1
Weight: 287lbs
Chest: 58"
Biceps: 20"

Torfi Olafsson (Iceland) 

Age: 32 years old
Height: 6'5
Weight: 375lbs
Chest: 63"
Biceps: 22"

Regin Vagadal (Faroe Islands) 

Age: 27 years old
Height: 6'1
Weight: 298lbs
Chest: 55"
Biceps: 21"
 
Event 1: Winch 

1-Svend Karlsen (:42.31) 6 pts. 

2-Regin Vagadal (:46.60) 5 pts. 

3-Torfi Olafsson (:47.66) 4 pts. 

4-Brian Bell (:53.40) 3 pts. 

5-Joe Onosai (:55.97) 2 pts. 

6-Magnus Ver Magnusson (:56.10) 1 pt.

Event 2: Incline Press 

1-Joe Onosai (24 reps) 6 pts. 

2-Torfi Olafsson (17 reps) 5 pts. 

3-Svend Karlsen (16 reps) 4 pts. 

4-M.Ver Magnusson (15 reps) 3 pts 

5-Regin Vagadal (14 reps) 1.5 pts. 

5-Brian Bell (14 reps) 1.5 pts.

Note: There was without a doubt some time manipulation in the winch with one certain competitor getting a raw deal. 
 
After 2 events:  

1-Svend Karlsen 10 pts. 

2-Torfi Olafsson 9 pts. 

3-Joe Onosai 8 pts.

4-Regin Vagadal 6.5 pts. 

5-Brian Bell 4.5 pts. 

6-Magnus Ver Magnusson 4 pts.

Note: I found it very funny watching the incline press (Magnus vs. Joe) on tv because they dubbed in crowd applause when in reality it was almost completely silent with the only exception being my friend shouting all this stuff in Samoan to Joe. Basically everyone just sat there like they were dead or something well maybe Magnus' girlfriend did shout a little also but I'm sure she was drowned out by Pat because I did not hear her at all but only saw it on tv. Also I could of swore Magnus did 16 reps in the incline press… 
 
Event 3: Hercules Hold (cars) 

1-Magnus Ver Magnusson (:29.72) 6 pts. 

2-Svend Karlsen (:24.20) 5 pts. 

3-Torfi Olafsson (:22.69) 4 pts. 

4-Regin Vagadal (:18.83) 3 pts. 

5-Joe Onosai (:16.36) 2 pts. 

6-Brian Bell (:12.12) 1 pt.

After 3 events: 

1-Svend Karlsen 15 pts. 

2-Torfi Olafsson 13 pts.  

3-Joe Onosai 10 pts. 

3-M.Ver Magnusson 10 pts. 

5-Regin Vagadal 9.5 pts.  

6-Brian Bell 5.5 pts.

Note: Again I believe there was some time altering, that's just my opinion of course 
 
Event 4: Wheel Flip 

1-Svend Karlsen (:47.44) 6 pts. 

2-Magnus Ver Magnusson (:49.47) 5 pts. 

3-Regin Vagadal (1:20.93) 4 pts. 

4-Torfi Olafsson (DNF/59 feet) 3 pts. 

5-Brian Bell (DNF/42 feet) 2 pts. 

6-Joe Onosai (DNF/25 feet) 1 pt.

Final Standings Heat 1: 

1-Svend Karlsen 21 pts. 

2-Torfi Olafsson 16 pts. 

3-M.Ver Magnusson 15 pts. 

4-Regin Vagadal 13.5 pts. 

5-Joe Onosai 11 pts.  

6-Brian Bell 7.5 pts.

Note: First two competitors advance to World Final. 

World's Strongest Man 1997, Heat 2 

Competitors: 
 
Riku Kiri (Finland) 
Age: 34 years old 
Height: 6'4 
Weight: 320lbs 
Chest: 57"
Biceps: 21"

Raimonds Bergmanis (Latvia)  

Age: 31 years old 
Height: 6'3 
Weight: 298lbs 
Chest: 49" 
Biceps: 19" 

Evgueniy Popov (Bulgaria)  

Age: 42 years old 
Height: 6'3 
Weight: 324lbs 
Chest: 54" 
Biceps:19" 
Derek Boyer (Fiji) 
Age: 28 years old
Height: 6'4
Weight: 304lbs
Chest: 54"
Biceps: 20"

Russell Bradley (England) 

Age: 32 years old
Height: 6'3
Weight: 287lbs
Chest: 51"
Biceps: 20"

Jean-Luc Moalli (France) 

Age: 35 years old
Height: 5'7
Weight: 260lbs
Chest: 55"
Biceps: 20"
 
Event 1: Super Yoke  

1-Russell Bradley (:17.55) 6 pts.  

2-Derek Boyer (:18.48) 5 pts.  

3-Raimonds Bergmanis (:25.26) 4 pts.  

4-Riku Kiri (:28.60) 3 pts.  

5-Evgueniy Popov (:46.20) 2 pts.  

6-Jean-Luc Moalli (DNF/14 inches) 1 pt. 

Event 2: Deadlift Repititions 

1-Riku Kiri (26 reps) 5.5 pts. 

1-Derek Boyer (26 reps) 5.5 pts. 

3-Russell Bradley (20 reps) 4 pts. 

4-Raimonds Bergmanis (16 reps) 2.5 pts. 

4-Evgueniy Popov (16 reps) 2.5 pts. 

6-Jean-Luc Moalli (8 reps) 1 pt.

Note: Okay, so Derek didn't actually rip off his shirt but he did rip it open and believe me when I say it was much more exciting live. It looked really weak on tv but live well he just stole the show, I guess it's one of those things you just had to of been there for. Another thing- on tv all the competitors looked like they were going real slow with the super yoke but live they just practically flew past us and it was very exciting but from watching it on the tv you would never think so. 
 
After 2 events: 

1-Derek Boyer 10.5 pts.  

2-Russell Bradley 10 pts.  

3-Riku Kiri 8.5 pts.

4-Raimonds Bergmanis 6.5 pts. 

5-Evgueniy Popov 4.5 pts. 

6-Jean-Luc Moalli 2 pts.

 
Event 3: Log Lift  

1-Raimonds Bergmanis (353lbs/160k) 6 pts.  

2-Derek Boyer (330) 5 pts. 

3-Riku Kiri (330) 4 pts.  

4-Evgueniy Popov (330) 3 pts.  

5-Russell Bradley (309) 2 pts.  

6-Jean-Luc Moalli (254) 1 pt. 

After 3 events: 

1-Derek Boyer 15.5 pts. 

2-Riku Kiri 12.5 pts. 

2-Raimonds Bergmanis 12.5 pts. 

4-Russell Bradley 12 pts. 

5-Evgueniy Popov 7.5 pts. 

6-Jean-Luc Moalli 3 pts.

Note: Gerrit Badenhorst, Heinz Ollesch, Regin Vagadal, Magnus Ver Magnusson, and Evgueniy Popov were standing around watching this event. So were the other competitors but they weren't standing with the spectators. Gerrit at one point spotted an open lounge chair and decided to kick back before he was up in the next event- the flintstone lift. Raimonds Bergmanis pulled a lounge chair out into the grass, when he finished this event, so he could dry off in the sun after jumping in the pool. None of this has anything to do with the scores but I thought you might like to know anyway. Oh and one more thing the tension between Gerrit and Heinz didn't start till during their event. 
 
Event 4: Farmers Walk  

1-Raimonds Bergmanis (:21.69) 6 pts.  

2-Riku Kiri (:22.87) 5 pts.  

3-Russell Bradley (:26.64) 4 pts.  

4-Evgueniy Popov (:31.19) 3 pts.  

5-Derek Boyer (:33.81) 2 pts.  

6-Jean-Luc Moalli (26 feet) 1 pt.

Final Standings Heat 2: 

1-Raimonds Bergmanis 18.5 pts.  

2-Derek Boyer 17.5 pts. 

3-Riku Kiri 17.5 pts. 

4-Russell Bradley 16 pts. 

5-Evgueniy Popov 10.5 pts. 

6-Jean-Luc Moalli 4 pts.

Note: First two competitors advance to World Final. 
 

 
World's Strongest Man 1997, Heat 3 

Competitors: 
 
Gerrit Badenhorst (South Africa)  
Age: 35 years old 
Height: 6'2 
Weight: 313lbs 
Chest: 53" 
Biceps: 21"

Paul Lepik (Estonia)  

Age: 29 years old 
Height: 6'2 
Weight: 290lbs 
Chest: 49" 
Biceps: 21" 

Magnus Samuelsson (Sweden)  

Age: 28 years old 
Height: 6'6 
Weight: 298lbs 
Chest: 55" 
Biceps: 21"
Ginaud Depuis (Canada) 
Age: 33 years old
Height: 6'2
Weight: 300lbs
Chest: 57"
Biceps:20"

Heinz Ollesch (Germany) 

Age: 31 years old
Height: 6'3
Weight: 331lbs
Chest: 59"
Biceps: 22"

Berend Veneberg (Netherlands) 

Age: 34 years old
Height: 6'1
Weight: 298lbs
Chest: 57"
Biceps: 21"
 
Event 1: Limo Pull  

1-Magnus Samuelsson (:46.59) 6 pts.  

2-Heinz Ollesch (71feet) 5 pts.  

3-Ginaud Depuis (65 feet) 4 pts.  

4-Berend Veneberg (60 feet) 3 pts.  

5-Gerrit Badenhorst (57 feet) 2 pts.  

6-Paul Lepik (52 feet) 1 pt.

Event 2: Cask Circle 

1-Magnus Samuelsson (656º) 6 pts. 

2-Berend Veneberg (637º) 5 pts. 

3-Gerrit Badenhorst (608º) 4 pts. 

4-Heinz Ollesch (580º) 3 pts. 

5-Paul Lepik (391º) 2 pts. 

6-Ginaud Depuis (224º) 1 pt.

Note: Only now do I realize that the first event was completely fixed. It seems the first couple of competitors had a real hard time getting the limo's to move and then after several adjustments underneath well the next few competitors seemed to have an easy time. And might I add this is only my opinion but I was there and this is what I witnessed. Everybody has a brain and can figure out for themselves if this is the truth or not. 
 
After 2 events: 

1-Magus Samuelsson 12 pts. 

2-Berend Veneberg 8 pts.  

2-Heinz Ollesch 8 pts.

4-Gerrit Badenhorst 6 pts. 

5-Ginaud Depuis 5 pts. 

6-Paul Lepik 3 pts.

 
Event 3: Flintstone Lift  

1-Gerrit Badenhorst (364lbs/165k) 6 pts.  

2-Heinz Ollesch (353) 5 pts.  

3-Paul Lepik (353) 4 pts.  

4-Magnus Samuelsson (342) 3 pts.  

5-Berend Veneberg (342) 2 pts.  

6-Ginaud Depuis (309) 1 pt. 

After 3 events: 

1-Magnus Samuelsson 15 pts. 

2-Heinz Ollesch 13 pts. 

3-Gerrit Badenhorst 12 pts. 

4-Berend Veneberg 10 pts. 

5-Paul Lepik 7 pts. 

6-Ginaud Depuis 6 pts.

Note: I should have known that Veneberg's big blow-up would be edited out. And finally I know what Gerrit was shouting about. I just knew that something was going on there and from the setup it was hard to view anything and if you add to that all the crew that kept standing in my way well this event sucked big time. And I cannot believe that Samuelsson got away with using his belt which he needed to use for almost every lift because otherwise he would of came in last place I'm sure. 
 
Event 4: Power Stairs  

1-Heinz Ollesch (:46.35) 6 pts.  

2-Magnus Samuelsson (:48.69) 5 pts.  

3-Gerrit Badenhorst (:54.35) 4 pts.  

4-Paul Lepik (1:30.48) 3 pts.  

5-Ginaud Depuis (DNF) 2 pts.  

6-Berend Veneberg (injured) 0 pts.

Final Standings Heat 3: 

1-Magnus Samuelsson 20 pts. 

2-Heinz Ollesch 19 pts. 

3-Gerrit Badenhorst 16 pts. 

4-Berend Veneberg 10 pts. 

4-Paul Lepik 10 pts. 

6-Ginaud Depuis 8 pts.

Note: First two competitors advance to World Final. 

World's Strongest Man 1997, Heat 4 

Competitors: 
 
Jouko Ahola (Finland)  
Age: 27 years old
Height: 6'1 
Weight: 276lbs 
Chest: 54" 
Biceps: 20" 

Michael Abdullah (Japan)  

Age: 33 years old 
Height: 6'0 
Weight: 293lbs 
Chest: 55" 
Biceps: 20" 

Bill Lyndon (Australia) 

Age: 33 years old
Height: 6'3
Weight: 311lbs
Chest: 59"
Biceps: 21"
Flemming Rasmussen (Denmark) 
Age: 29 years old
Height: 6'4
Weight: 353lbs
Chest: 55"
Biceps: 22"

Bernard Rolle (Bahamas)  

Age: 33 years old 
Height: 6'1 
Weight: 309lbs 
Chest: 60" 
Biceps: 21" 

Robert Weir (England) 

Age: 36 years old
Height: 6'3
Weight: 291lbs
Chest: 53"
Biceps: 19"
 
Event 1: Car Walk  

1-Flemming Rasmussen (:14.51) 6 pts.  

2-Jouko Ahola (:17.19) 5 pts.  

3-Bill Lyndon (:29.87) 4 pts.  

4-Michael Abdullah (DNF/14 feet) 3 pts.  

5-Robert Weir (DNF/13 feet) 2 pts.  

6-Bernard Rolle (DNF/3 feet) 1 pt. 

Event 2: Hercules Hold 

1-Jouko Ahola (:35.64) 6 pts. 

2-Robert Weir (:32.42) 5 pts. 

3-Flemming Rasmussen (:31.06) 4 pts. 

4-Bernard Rolle (:06.02) 3 pts. 

5-Bill Lyndon (:23.06) 2 pts. 

6-Michael Abdullah (:20.28) 1 pt.

Note: In the car walk Flemming Rasmussen just practically flew past us as if on wings- he was really that fast. And Magnus Ver Magnusson came out before the start of this event and gave a few pointers to some of the guys even getting inside the car and showing them how to position themselves(?) I guess- that's what it looked like he was doing anyways. 

Note: I have absolutely zero pictures from the Hercules Hold because they were facing the opposite direction and I wasn't feeling so well from the sun and decided to take a break so I would make it through the rest of the events. This day was also the day of the cask circle and deadlift reps which was the hottest day of the competition and had a couple of competitors receiving oxygen and Raimonds Bergmanis was even on a heart monitor for awhile (heat 2 after deadlift reps). 
 
After 2 events: 

1-Jouko Ahola 11 pts.  

2-Flemming Rasmussen 10 pts.  

3-Robert Weir 7 pts. 

4-Bill Lyndon 6 pts. 

5-Michael Abdullah 4 pts. 

5-Bernard Rolle 4 pts.

 
Event 3: Throw For Height  

1-Bill Lyndon (19'6) 6 pts.  

2-Robert Weir (19') 5 pts.  

3-Flemming Rasmussen (18') 4 pts.  

4-Michael Abdullah (18') 3 pts.  

5-Jouko Ahola (16') 2 pts. ( !! ) 

6-Bernard Rolle (16') 1 pt. 

After 3 events: 

1-Flemming Rasmussen 14 pts. 

2-Jouko Ahola 13 pts. 

3-Bill Lyndon 12 pts. 

3-Robert Weir 12 pts. 

5-Michael Abdullah 7 pts. 

6-Bernard Rolle 5 pts.

Note: It was during this event that Bill Lyndon did part of the Haka and also another sexy little dance but when the cameraman tried to get him on tape he stopped- jerk who knows what else Bill might have done- hehe;-) They did manage to get a clip of Bill and then saying on tv that he was trying to keep cool in the shade- which he was but that's not all he was doing. Bernard pulled up a chair and tried to keep cool too while signing many autographs and posing for pictures with fans. Riku Kiri was getting a back rub during this event and normally I would have gone over there for a picture of him like that but I was having way too much fun where I was. 
 
Event 4: Atlas Stones  

1-Flemming Rasmussen (5 stones/:37.76)  

2-Jouko Ahola (5st/:47.64) 5 pts.  

3-Robert Weir (DNF/3st) 4 pts.  

4-Bill Lyndon (DNF/3st) 3 pts.  

5-Michael Abdullah (DNF/1st) 2 pts.  

6-Bernard Rolle (DNF/0st) 1 pt. 

Final Standings Heat 4: 

1-Flemming Rasmussen 20 pts. 

2-Jouko Ahola 18 pts. 

3-Robert Weir 16 pts. 

4-Bill Lyndon 15 pts. 

5-Michael Abdullah 9 pts. 

6-Bernard Rolle 6 pts.

Note: First two competitors advance to World Final. 

 
 
 WORLD FINALISTS:
 
Svend Karlsen -Norway
Torfi Olafsson -Iceland
Raimonds Bergmanis -Latvia
Flemming Rasmussen -Denmark
Magnus Samuelsson -Sweden
Heinz Ollesch -Germany
Jouko Ahola -Finland
Derek Boyer -Fiji