World Strongman Federation

The "World Strongman" International Union of associations and clubs (old name World Strongman Federation - "WSF") ("WSM") is a worldwide organization within strength athletics, founded by Vlad Redkin, a prominent figure in the history of the International Federation of Strength Athletes and World Strongman Cup Federation. The WSF has organised a number of grand prix events and national championships featuring some of the world's leading strength athletes including 5 time World's Strongest Man winner Mariusz Pudzianowski, Brian Shaw, Mikhail Koklyaev, Krzysztof Radzikowski, Tarmo Mitt, Kevin Nee, Stefan Solvi Petursson, Laurence Shahlaei and Mark Felix. The WSF's flagship programme is the WSF World Cup.

World Strongman
Formation2003
TypeSports federation
HeadquartersDubai, UAE
President
Vladimir Burdun (UAE)
WebsiteWorld Strongman

History

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The WSF was set up in 2003 by Vlad Redkin following a financial dispute with the World Strongman Cup Federation. Following Vlad's departure, the WSCF ceased to promote events and effectively disappeared from the strength athletics landscape. In September 2007 an event in Khanty-Mansijsk formerly affiliated to WSCF and featuring its athletes was promoted by Vlad Redkin. This event had its name changed at short notice from WSCF to the Grand Prix of Khanty-Mansijsk (Russia) and in effect was the first WSF event. The reason given after the competition by Redkin was that a combination of financial reasons as well as concerns over WSCF's stated aim of forming closer ties with the International Federation of Strength Athletes led him to part company with WSCF. He initially planned to cooperate closely with Strongman Super Series in 2008, but in fact set up a new federation called the World Strongman Federation.[1]

In 2008 the WSF organised a World Cup, it featured Mariusz Pudzianowski amongst others. However, the inaugural season failed to attract as many top tier names as planned and the WSF World Cup season was reduced in scale. By the end of 2008 the new federation was organising one off grand prix events largely based in the countries of the former Soviet Union, featuring fields of athletes confined to those countries.

In 2011 the WSF began to exert its presence globally once more and a WSF Asian World Cup event was organised, with Tarmo Mitt winning the event and also featuring the comeback event for Kevin Nee who finished third.[2]

In August 2011 Redkin stated that WSF had an agreement between 8 countries in that time and more were being approached in order to once again stage a WSF World Cup. This materialised and in August 2011 the 2011/12 World Cup was begun.[3]

In August 2022 by the decision of the ExCo WSF organization has been rebranded to the "World Strongman" International Union of associations and clubs.[4]

In September 2023, Mr. Vladimir Burdun (UAE) was legally elected by ExCo President of the International Union "World Strongman" [5]

WSF World Cup
2012
 
The official logo of World Strongman Federation
Tournament information
LocationVaries
Established2008
FormatA number of Multi-event competitions within an annual tour

World Cup

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2008

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF World Cup Irkutsk   Irkutsk, Russia   Mariusz Pudzianowski   Elbrus Nigmatullin   Stojan Todorchev Feb. 22, 2008[6]
Irkutsk Russian Strongman Cup   Irkutsk, Russia   Elbrus Nigmatullin   Dmitry Kononets   Michael Sidorychev July 27, 2008[7]

2010

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF BelAZ Strongman Cup   Zhodzina, Belarus   Tarmo Mitt   Atanas Abrutus   Alexander Lapirov Sept. 24, 2010[8]

2011

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World Cup

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF Asian World Cup   Uzbekistan[9]   Tarmo Mitt   Alexander Lapirov   Kevin Nee March 26, 2011
WSF World Cup stage I   Riga, Latvia[10]   Atanas Abrutus   Tarmo Mitt   Jarno Jokinen Aug. 20, 2011[11]
WSF World Cup stage II   Batumi, Georgia[12]   Zviad Kajaia   Nikolai Hansen   Konstantine Janashia Sept. 4, 2011[13]
WSF World Cup stage III   Minsk, Belarus[14]   Tarmo Mitt   Atanas Abrutus   Oleksandr Lashyn Sept. 10, 2011[15]
WSF BelAZ Strongman Cup   Zhodzina, Belarus   Tarmo Mitt   Atanas Abrutus  Alexander Lapirov Sept. 24, 2011[16]

World Team Cup

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF World Team Cup: Stage I   Ukraine
Oleksandr Lashyn
Sergey Konyushok
  Estonia
Meelis Pungits
Peil
  Ukraine
Stahursky
Tishecky
July 2, 2011[17]
WSF World Team Cup: Stage II   Estonia
Tarmo Mitt
Evgeny Shcherbakov
  Belarus
Sergy Vachinshky
Alexander Lapirov
  Uzbekistan
Sergey Trubitsin
Hamza Primov
July 9, 2011[18]

Other competitions

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
Ukraine's Strongest Man 2011   Kiev, Ukraine   Oleksandr Lashyn   Victor Yurchenko   Oleksander Pekanov October 14, 2011[19]
Hungary's Strongest Man 2011   Pusztaottlaka, Hungary   Zolt Szabó   Ákos Nagy   István Sárai October 15, 2011[20]

2012

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World Cup

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF World Cup stage IV   Tashkent, Uzbekistan   Krzysztof Radzikowski   Sergey Trubitsin   Mark Felix March 30, 2012[21]
WSF World Cup stage V   Hoofddorp, Netherlands   Richard van der Linden   Sebastian Davidsson   Konstantinie Janashia June 10, 2012[22]
WSF World Cup stage VI   Lviv, Ukraine   Oleksandr Lashyn   Viktor Yurchenko   Ari Gunarsson July 14, 2012[23]
WSF World Cup stage VII   Lahti, Finland   Nikolai Hansen   Antanas Abrutus   Jarno Jokinen Sept. 9, 2012[24]
WSF World Cup stage VIII   Denizli, Turkey   Rolands Gulbis   Bartalomei Bak   Tarmo Mitt Oct. 16, 2012[25]

Other competitions

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
Brazilian Strongman Open Championships   Brazil   Eduardo Visciglia   Rodrigo Gigante   Rafael Crestani Feb. 26, 2012[26]
Azerbaijan Strongmen Championships   Baku, Azerbaijan   Vusal Mardanov   Mehman Faradzov   Hazrjad Magammedov March 4, 2012[27]
Russian Strongman Championships   Krasnoyarsk, Russia   Alexej Zolotuhin   Vladimir Kalinichenko   Alexander Lysenko April 4, 2012[28]
WSF Russian Strongman Cup   Vologda, Russia  Alexander Lapirov  Pavel Sprutsko  Denis Naigibin June 30, 2012[29]
Elite Strongman: Moscow   Moscow, Russia   Krzysztof Radzikowski   Stojan Todorchev  Mikhail Koklyaev Aug. 1, 2012[30]

World Team Cup/Team Championships

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF CIS/Baltic Team Championships Team Russia 
Elbrus Nigmatullin
Vladimir Muravlov
Team Ukraine 
Oleksandr Lashyn
Ivanov
Baltic Team
  Tarmo Mitt
  Antanas Abrutis
June 30, 2012[29]

2013

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World Cup

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF World Cup Stage I   Tashkent, Uzbekistan   Sergey Trubitsin   Rafal Kobylarz   Oleksandr Lashyn April 14, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage II   Aktau, Kazakhstan April TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage III   Hungary May TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage IV   Russia May TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage V   Netherlands June TBA, 2013[citation needed]
WSF World Cup Stage VI WSF European Championships   June TBA, 2013[31]
WFS World Cup Stage VII   Portugal July TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage VIII   Ukraine Aug. TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage IX   Turkey Sept. TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Stage X   Russia Oct. TBA, 2013[31]
WSF World Cup Finals WSF World Championships   United Arab Emirates Dec. TBA, 2013[31]

World Team Cup

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
WSF World Team Cup Poland VS. USA   Poland Aug. TBA, 2013

Other competitions

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Location Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Date
Elite Strongman: Moscow   Moscow, Russia July TBA, 2013[31]

WSF World Strongmen Championships

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2012

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The first ever WSF World Strongmen Championship was held February 12–14, 2012 in Abu Dhabi under the patronage of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Mohammed Bin Hamdan Al Nahyan. The contest consisted of 25 athletes, after day 1 the field was cut down to 15 athletes, and down to 8 athletes after day 2. The scores were reset to zero after each day of competition, and the finals were held on Feb. 14, 2012.[32]

Athletes

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Day 1 results

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Date: 12 February 2012[33] Dubai, UAE  

Position Name Country Points
1 Krzysztof Radzikowski   96
2 Farzad Mousakhani   94
3 Laurence Shahlaei   84
4 Elbrus Nigmatulin   83
5 Alexander Mantserov   82
6 Oleksander Lashyn   81
7 Josh Thigpen   79
8 Mark Felix   76
9 Nikolai Hansen   75
9 Stefan Solvi Petursson   75
11 Tarmo Mitt   73
11 Vladimir Rizov   73
13 Antanas Abrutis   71
14 Rolands Gulbis   66
15 Kevin Nee   65

Day 2 results

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Date: 13 February 2012[34] Dubai, UAE  

Position Name Country Points
1 Josh Thigpen   52.5
2 Stefan Solvi Petursson   51.5
3 Laurence Shahlaei   47.5
4 Krzysztof Radzikowski   47
5 Mark Felix   45
6 Farzad Mousakhani   42.5
7 Nikolai Hansen   42.5
8 Antanas Abrutis   38

Day 3/Final placings

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Date: 14 February 2012[35] Dubai, UAE  

Position Name Country Points
1 Krzysztof Radzikowski   35
2 Laurence Shahlaei   33
3 Josh Thigpen   27
4 Stefan Solvi Petursson   22
5 Nikolai Hansen   18
6 Kevin Nee   15
7 Mark Felix   12
8 Antanas Abrutis   0

2013

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The 2013 WSF World Championships are scheduled to be held in December, and will also be the finals for the 2013 WSF World Cup.[31] The contest is scheduled to take place in the United Arab Emirates.[31]

Grand Prix of Khanty-Mansijsk

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Originally, another event in Khanty-Mansijsk in September 2007 was affiliated to WSMC and featured its athletes. However, the promoter of the event, Vlad Redkin, changed the name from WSMC to the Grand Prix of Khanty-Mansijsk (Russia). The reason given was that after the competition Redkin was parting company with WSMC due to his concerns over WSMC wanting closer ties with the International Federation of Strength Athletes. He also cited that he had lost money with WSMC. He initially planned to cooperate closely with the World Strongman Super Series in 2008, but in fact set up a new federation called the World Strongman Federation.[1]

Date: 8 September 2007

Position Name Country Points
1. Stojan Todorchev   49
2. Tarmo Mitt   47,5
3. Elbrus Nigmatullin   42
4. Raivis Vidzis   36,5
5. René Minkwitz   33
6. Brian Shaw   30,5
7. Christian Savoie   24
8. Glenn Ross   20
9. Mojtaba Maleki   17
10. Karim Taleshi   17
11. Igor Torlak   9,5

2014

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2015

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The new President of WSF Pradeep Baba Madhok quotes “Our distinct target audience, apart from strength enthusiasts, that we aim to give utmost priority to is children and the youth, making them well informed on the importance of nutrition and fitness at a very young age. WSF solely stands by the principal of strength and with that in mind, we hope to inspire the forthcoming generations to reach their dreams.”

2016

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2024

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Dubai World Strongman Championship

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b "Vlad Redkin Leaves WSMC . . . Stoyan Todorchev Wins Contest in Russia".
  2. ^ Tarmo Mitt Wins Asian World Cup Strongman by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2011 IronMind
  3. ^ World Strongman Federation: 5-Stage Tour Planned by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. | ©2011 IronMind
  4. ^ "Official report by the World Strongmanabout re-organization". 15 August 2022.
  5. ^ "Facebook". www.facebook.com.
  6. ^ WSF World Cup Irkutsk 2008 | World Strongmen Federation
  7. ^ Irkutsk Russian Strongman Cup | World Strongmen Federation
  8. ^ Clone of BELAZ STRONGMAN CUP 2010 | World Strongmen Federation
  9. ^ "Tarmo Mitt Wins Asian World Cup Strongman".
  10. ^ "Antonos Abrutis Wins WSF World Cup Riga".
  11. ^ WSF World Cup 1st stage! | World Strongmen Federation
  12. ^ "WSF Strongman World Cup: Surprise in Georgia".
  13. ^ WSF World Cup 2nd stage! | World Strongmen Federation
  14. ^ "Tarmo Mitt Wins WSF–World Cup Strongman in Minsk".
  15. ^ WSF World Cup 3rd stage | World Strongmen Federation
  16. ^ BELAZ STRONGMAN CUP 2011 | World Strongmen Federation
  17. ^ WSF World Team Cup 1 st. | World Strongmen Federation
  18. ^ WSF World Team Cup 2 st. | World Strongmen Federation
  19. ^ "Strongest Man of Ukraine | World Strongmen Federation". Archived from the original on 2013-10-05. Retrieved 2012-02-14.
  20. ^ Hungary’s Strongest Man 2011 | World Strongmen Federation
  21. ^ "Krzysztof Radzikowski Wins WSF–Uzebekstan".
  22. ^ Holland’s Got Power! | World Strongmen Federation
  23. ^ "Oleksandr Lashyn Wins WSF-Ukraine".
  24. ^ "Strongman and Grip Strength at the Finnish Fitness Expo".
  25. ^ "WSF Turkey World Cup Results".
  26. ^ Brazilian Strongman Open Championship | World Strongmen Federation
  27. ^ Azerbaijan Strongmen Championship | World Strongmen Federation
  28. ^ Russian Strongmen Championship - Krasnoyarsk 2012! | World Strongmen Federation
  29. ^ a b "WSF Update: Strongman and Mas Wrestling in Russia".
  30. ^ "Krzysztof Radzikowski Wins Elite Strongman".
  31. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. "News". www.ironmind.com. Archived from the original on 2013-10-04. Retrieved 2013-01-25.
  32. ^ a b Abu Dhabi WSF World Strongmen Championship 2012 | World Strongmen Federation
  33. ^ "WSF World Strongmen Championships: Day 1 Results".
  34. ^ "Josh Thigpen Wins Day 2 at WSF Championships".
  35. ^ "Krzysztof Radzikowski Wins WSF World Strongmen Championships".