Strength athletics in Norway refers to the participation of Norwegian competitors and holding national strongman competitions.
History The sport's roots have a long history going back many centuries before modern strongman competitions in the 1970s. However, Norway did not come onto the international scene in modern times until Torkel Ravndal broke the deadlift world record. Norway has had mixed success on the international stage, with Svend Karlsen winning the 2001 World's Strongest Man title, Norway's only WSM title. In recent years, Norway has had several top international competitors in WSM, including Odd Haugen, Arild Haugen, Richard Skog, Espen Aune, Ole Martin Hansen and Bjørn Andre Solvang.
National Competitions Norway's Strongest Man
Norway's Strongest Man () is an annual strongman competition and the main national title of Norway. The event was established in 1998 and has produced fourteen champions throughout the years. Kurt Kvikkstad won in 1998 & 1999, with Roy Holte winning the next 3 years. Then emerged Svend Karlsen, Norway's greatest strength athlete who took the 2003, 2005, and 2006 titles. In 2004 Mattis Bjorheim won the title. Arild Haugen won in 2007 & 2008 and Richard Skog won in 2009 & 2010. Espen Aune won in 2011Norway’s Strongest Man: Strongman and More and then emerged Ole Martin Hansen who won the title a record four times from 2012 to 2015. Jørgen Skaug Aukland won in 2016 followed by Bjørn Andre Solvang in 2017. Then emerged Ole Martin Kristiansen who won the title three times from 2018 to 2020. Jonas Bathen won in 2021, Henrik Hildeskor in 2022, 2023, 2025 & 2026 and Håkon Heitmann Kollerød in 2024.
Champions breakdown YearChampionRunner-up3rd place 1998 Kurt Kvikkstad Thomas Johansen Roy Holte 1999 Kurt Kvikkstad Marius Bjerke Roy Holte 2000 Roy Holte Odd Haugen Olaf Dahl 2001 Roy Holte Kurk Kvikkstad Frank Nagy 2002 Roy Holte Olaf Dahl Frank Nagy 2003 Svend Karlsen Odd Haugen Reider Kvåle 2004 Reider Kvåle Espen Aune Olaf Dahl 2005 Svend Karlsen Reider Kvåle Olaf Dahl 2006 Svend Karlsen Arild Haugen Reider Kvåle 2007 Arild Haugen Espen Aune Odd Haugen 2008 Arild Haugen Richard Skog Odd Haugen 2009 Richard Skog Arild Haugen Lars Rørbakken 2010 Richard Skog Espen Aune Bjørn Andre Solvang 2011 Espen Aune Lars Rørbakken Bjørn Andre Solvang 2012 Ole Martin Hansen Lars Rørbakken Espen Aune 2013 Ole Martin Hansen Bjørn Andre Solvang Øyvind Rein 2014 Ole Martin Hansen Espen Aune Bjørn Andre Solvang 2015 Ole Martin Hansen Bjørn Andre Solvang Espen Aune 2016 Jørgen Skaug Aukland Ole Martin Hansen Ole Martin Kristiansen 2017 Bjørn Andre Solvang Ole Martin Kristiansen Jon Olav Granli 2018 Ole Martin Kristiansen Nils Kjetil Sande Jonas Bathen 2019 Ole Martin Kristiansen Bjørn Andre Solvang Jørn Erik Bolstad 2020 Ole Martin Kristiansen Henrik Hildeskor Stefan Sekej 2021 Jonas Bathen Stefan Sekej Øyvind Gustavsen 2022 Henrik Hildeskor Morten Linge Dag Rune Stangeland 2023 Henrik Hildeskor Tommy Kåsin Morten Linge2024 Håkon Heitmann Kollerød Henrik Hildeskor Andre Vrålid2025 Henrik Hildeskor Håkon Heitmann Kollerød Dag Rune Stangeland2026 Henrik Hildeskor Håkon Heitmann Kollerød Max Rogers
Repeat champions ChampionTimes & years Ole Martin Hansen 4 (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015) Henrik Hildeskor4 (2022, 2023, 2025, 2026) Roy Holte 3 (2000, 2001, 2002) Svend Karlsen 3 (2003, 2005, 2006) Ole Martin Kristiansen 3 (2018, 2019, 2020) Arild Haugen 2 (2002, 2003) Richard Skog 2 (2009, 2010)
Regional Competitions Nordic Strongman Championships Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark. YearChampionRunner-Up3rd Place2005 Svend Karlsen Magnus Samuelsson Juha-Matti Räsänen2012 Johannes Årsjö Lars Rorbakken Mikkel Leicht 2013 Johannes Årsjö Ole Martin Hansen Juha-Matti Järvi
In 2005, the competition was held under IFSA in Kristiansand, and in 2012 and 2013 in Harstad, Norway under Giants Live. From 2014 onwards, the competition was promoted to global level, re-titled as the World's Strongest Viking and was held consecutively for 8 years under Strongman Champions League.
International Competitions World's Strongest Viking Norway hosted the winter edition of the World's Strongest Viking competition, with the participation of top athletes of the world.
YearChampionRunner-up3rd place2014 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson David Nyström Terry Hollands2015 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Krzysztof Radzikowski Jean-François Caron2016 Jean-François Caron Matjaz Belsak Krzysztof Radzikowski2017 Jean-François Caron Krzysztof Radzikowski Luke Herrick2018 Krzysztof Radzikowski Dennis Kohlruss Luke Herrick2019 Krzysztof Radzikowski Ole Martin Kristiansen Mika Törrö2020 Sean O'Hagan Aivars Šmaukstelis Mika Törrö2021 Dainis Zageris Kelvin de Ruiter Henrik Hildeskor2023 Johan Espenkrona Eric Dawson Øyvind Gustavsen
Giants Live Norway was also the venue for a Giants Live Viking Power Challenge competition.
YearChampionRunner-Up3rd Place2009 Travis Ortmayer Richard Skog Mikhail Koklyaev
References