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 from Denmark finished second after finishing fourth the previous year, and Magnus Samuelsson from Sweden finished third. Three time defending champion Magnus Ver Magnusson, chasing a fourth straight title and record fifth overall, was eliminated in the qualifying heats. The contest was held in Primm Valley Resort, Nevada.
Heats
Group 1 PositionNameNationalityPoints 1. Svend Karlsen 21 2. Torfi Ólafsson 16 3. Magnús Ver Magnússon 15 4. Regin Vagadal 13.5 5. Joe Onosai 11 6. Brian Bell 7.5
Group 2 PositionNameNationalityPoints 1. Raimonds Bergmanis 18.5 2. Derek Boyer 17.5 3. Riku Kiri 17.5 4. Russ Bradley 16 5. Evgeny Popov 10.5 6. Jean-Luc Moalli 4
Group 3 PositionNameNationalityPoints 1. Magnus Samuelsson 20 2. Heinz Ollesch 19 3. Gerrit Badenhorst 16 4. Berend Veneberg 10 (injured) 4. Paul Lepik 10 6. Ginaud Dupuis 8
Group 4 PositionNameNationalityPoints 1. Flemming Rasmussen 20 2. Jouko Ahola 18 3. Robert Weir 16 4. Bill Lyndon 15 5. Michael Abdullah * 9 6. Bernard Rolle 6
Michael Abdullah comes from Lebanon, but he represents Japan at the World's Strongest Man Championship.
Group USA PositionNameNationalityPoints 1. Mark Philippi 108 2. Harold "Iron Bear" Collins 85.5 3. Tommy Ingalsbe 83.5 4. Ken Brown 79.5 4. Phil Martin 79.5 6. Kevin Toth 68 7. James Voronin 64.5 8. Gary Mitchell 46.5 (Injured) The USA Group was actually the inaugural America's Strongest Man contest and took place at the Primm Valley Resort several weeks before the other qualifying heats.
Final results # Name Nationality Truck Pull Log Lift Car Roll Husafell Stone Squat Keg Loading Dead Lift Final Race Pts 1 Jouko Ahola 6 9 6 8 7 9 10 6 61 2 Flemming Rasmussen 10 9 5 7 8 10 4 4 57 3 Magnus Samuelsson 9 1.5 10 10 3 7 2 10 52.5 4 Torfi Ólafsson 5 4 7 4 4.5 6 7 8 45.5 5 Raimonds Bergmanis 4 4 1 6 4.5 8 8 9 44.5 6 Heinz Ollesch 7 6.5 8 3 2 4 6 7 43.5 7 Mark Philippi 1 6.5 4 2 10 3 9 5 40.5 8 Svend Karlsen 8 4 9 9 1 1 1 0 33 9 Derek Boyer 3 1.5 3 5 6 5 5 0 28.5 10 Harold "Iron Bear" Collins 2 9 2 1 9 2 3 0 28
See also America's Strongest Man
References
External links Official site 1997 results at Bill Henderson's Strongest Man site