Strength athletics in Iceland refers to the participation of Icelandic competitors and holding national strongman competitions. The sport's roots have a long and ancient history going back to – 1056, with sagas about Orm Storolfsson, Finnbogi and Grettir Ásmundarson to the 18th and 19th century traditional strongmen including Snorri Björnsson, Brynjólfur Eggertsson and Gunnar Salómonsson; all the way up to the televisation of modern strongman competitions in the late 1970s.
Iceland has held a preeminent position as a nation due to the enormous success of its competitors at international strength platforms, who between them have won myriad international strongman competitions across all governing bodies including nine World's Strongest Man titles and for holding more strongman world records than any other country hence is often regarded as 'the strongest nation of the world'.
History Icelanders testing each other through tests of strength predates the introduction of Strength athletics. There had also been a number of noted powerlifters and weightlifters including Skúli Óskarsson, Óskar Sigurpálsson, Guðmundur Sigurðsson, Birgir Borgþórsson, Guðmundur Helgason and Þorsteinn Leifsson during the twentieth century. However, in the era of Strongman, Iceland has a record that belies the size of the nation's population, having won everything there is to win in the sport.
Before Iceland had its own national competition, it already had men competing on the international circuit. In 1983, the young powerlifter and bodybuilder, Jón Páll Sigmarsson entered the 1983 World's Strongest Man competition where he emerged runner-up. Sigmarsson went on to win the competition the following year and in total won the World's Strongest Man four times, and became the first man to win the title 4 times. Sigmarsson was also a 5 times World Muscle Power Classic champion, 2 times Europe's Strongest Man and winner of the Pure Strength title.
His contemporary, and good friend Hjalti Árnason, was also competing parallel to him and he won Le Defi Mark Ten International and podiumed in several competitions including World Muscle Power Classic and World Strongman Challenge.
Magnús Ver Magnússon followed in their footsteps and emulated Sigmarsson's four World's Strongest Man titles, becoming the second man to win the title 4 times. He also won World Strongman Challenge, Europe's Strongest Man and European Hercules competitions. Ver Magnússon and Árnason also won the 1989 Pure Strength team competition.
There have also been several highly acclaimed Icelandic competitors, competing across top tier international competitions including Andrés Guðmundsson, Torfi Ólafsson, Kristinn Óskar Haraldsson, Benedikt Magnússon and most notably Stefán Sölvi Pétursson who achieved fourth-place in the 2010 World's Strongest Man competition.
The next entire decade of Icelandic Strongman competitions was dominated by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson who won the main National title 12 times in addition to winning several other national competitions multiple times and also winning 10 Giants Live tours including the Europe's Strongest Man 5 times, 9 Strongman Champions League titles, the Arnold Strongman Classic 3 consecutive times, the World's Strongest Viking 2 consecutive times, the World's Strongest Man and the World's Ultimate Strongman becoming the most decorated Icelandic Strongman of all-time.
National Competitions Since 1985, Iceland has had its own national strongman competition: Iceland's Strongest Man, which remains the main national title. Then, there has also been other major titles contested in Iceland, including Strongest Man in Iceland, Iceland's Strongest Viking, Iceland's Strongest Man (IFSA) and Icelandic Power Trial Championships; in addition to several smaller competitions such as Westfjord's Viking, Grundarfjord Viking, Highland Viking, East Coast Giant/ Eastfjord Strongman Championships and Northern Giant. Iceland also holds national Highland Games competitions such as Icelandic Highland Games, Powerlifting competitions such as Thor's Powerlifting Challenge, Magnus Classic Raw Powerlifting, and deadlift + loglift competitions such as Thor's Power Challenge.
Iceland's Strongest Man
Iceland's Strongest Man is Iceland's main national title. In 1985, the inaugural edition of the competition was heldWednesday, June 17, 2009, Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind and it was not for the faint-hearted. Three of the six competitors ended up in hospital.Friday, June 19, 2015, Hafthor: 5X Iceland’s Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D., IronMind Jón Páll won the competition while Hjalti Árnason emerged second and Magnús Ver third. Thus, in the very first contest the podium finishers would between them go on to win the World's Strongest Man eight times, the World Muscle Power Classic seven times, the World Strongman Challenge, Le Defi Mark Ten International and numerous powerlifting titles including the super-heavyweight IPF World Powerlifting Championships. The contest's profile was immediately internationally renowned and it eventually became an open competition in some years, although if a non-Icelander wins, the title of Iceland's Strongest Man defers to the highest placed Icelander. This has only happened on 2 occasions when the legendary Bill Kazmaier of the United States and Regin Vagadal of the Faroe Islands won in 1988 and 1998 respectively.
Iceland's Strongest Man remains the most prestigious and the highest ranking strongman title of the country. Each year, the champion is bestowed with an iconic trophy handcrafted from stone, which depicts a man lifting a heavy stone.
Results Being held for 41 consecutive years since its inception in 1985, Iceland's Strongest Man is the oldest 'continuously held' strongman competition in the world. It has been won by 11 Icelanders and 7 of them progressed on to become multiple winners. With 12 titles, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson holds the record for the most number of wins while Magnús Ver Magnússon and Jón Páll Sigmarsson have 8 and 5 wins respectively. The competition is annually organized and hosted by Hjalti Árnason.
YearChampionRunner-Up3rd Place1985 Jón Páll Sigmarsson Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon 1986 Jón Páll Sigmarsson (2) Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon 1987 Jón Páll Sigmarsson (3) Hjalti Árnason Magnús Ver Magnússon 1988 Bill Kazmaier Magnús Ver Magnússon Hjalti Árnason 1989 Magnús Ver Magnússon Hjalti Árnason Torfi Ólafsson1990 Jón Páll Sigmarsson (4) Andrés Guðmundsson Hjalti Árnason19912 september 1991, Sterkasti maður íslands 1991: Magnús Ver sigraði Magnús Ver Magnússon (2) Hjalti Árnason Björgvin FilippussonIn 1991 Jón Páll Sigmarsson was unable to compete due to injury sustained in Denmark. Andrés Guðmundsson took fourth place1992 Jón Páll Sigmarsson (5) Andrés Guðmundsson Pétur Guðmundsson1993 Magnús Ver Magnússon (3) Andrés Guðmundsson Hjalti Árnason1994 Magnús Ver Magnússon (4) Andrés Guðmundsson Pétur Guðmundsson1995 Magnús Ver Magnússon (5) Torfi Ólafsson Vilhjálmur Hauksson1996 Magnús Ver Magnússon (6) Hjalti Árnason Andrés Guðmundsson1997 Torfi Ólafsson Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Vilhjálmur Hauksson1998 Regin Vagadal Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Torfi Ólafsson 1999 Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson Audunn Jónsson Torfi Ólafsson2000Sunday, June 18, 2000, Gunnar Thor Wins Icelandic Strongest Man... by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson (2) Torfi Ólafsson Audunn Jónsson 2001 Magnús Ver Magnússon (7) Magnús Magnússon Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson 2002Monday, June 17, 2002, Magnus Magnussson Wins Iceland's Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind Magnus Magnusson Audunn Jónsson Grétar Guðmundsson 2003 Benedikt Magnússon Audunn Jónsson Grétar Guðmundsson 2004 Magnús Ver Magnússon (8) Benedikt Magnússon Audunn Jónsson2005Saturday, June 18, 2005, Boris Wins Iceland's Strongest Man, Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind Kristinn Oskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Adrian Rollinson Guðjón Gíslason 2006Tuesday, June 20, 2006, Iceland's Strongest Man Contest: Boris Wins, Qualifies for WSMSS, by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson (2) Don Pope Jens Andri Fylkisson 2007Boris Repeats as Iceland’s Strongest Man by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson (3) Terry Hollands Don Pope 2008 Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson (4) Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Orri Geirsson 2009 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson Páll Logason2010 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson (2) Benedikt Magnússon Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson 2011 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Ari Gunnarsson Páll Logason 2012 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (2) Ari Gunnarsson Páll Logason 2013 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (3) Páll Logason Ari Gunnarsson 2014 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (4) Páll Logason Úlfur Orri Pétursson2015 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (5) Ari Gunnarsson Fannar Smári Vilhjálmsson 2016 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (6) Stefán Sölvi Pétursson Ari Gunnarsson 2017 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (7) Ari Gunnarsson Sigfús Fossdal2018 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (8) Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Sigfús Fossdal2019 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (9) Tom Stoltman Luke Stoltman 2020 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (10) Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Ari Gunnarsson 2021 Stefán Karel Torfason Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð Kristján Sindri Níelsson 2022 Kristján Jón Haraldsson Stefán Karel Torfason Páll Logason 2023 Kristján Jón Haraldsson (2) Vilius Jokužys Theodór Már Guðmundsson2024 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (11) Pálmi Guðfinnsson Hilmar Örn Jónsson2025 Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (12) Paddy Haynes Evans Nana2026 Kristján Jón Haraldsson (3) Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Vilius Jokužys
Champions breakdown ChampionTimesYears Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson 12 (10 consecutive) 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020,2024, 2025 Magnús Ver Magnússon 8 (4 consecutive) 1989, 1991, 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2001, 2004 Jón Páll Sigmarsson 5 (3 consecutive) 1985, 1986, 1987, 1990, 1992 Kristinn Óskar 'Boris' Haraldsson 4 (consecutive) 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008 Kristján Jón Haraldsson 3 (2 consecutive) 2022, 2023, 2026 Gunnar Þór Guðjónsson 2 (consecutive) 1999, 2000 Stefán Sölvi Pétursson 2 (consecutive) 2009, 2010 Torfi Ólafsson 1 1997 Magnús Magnússon 1 2002 Benedikt Magnússon 1 2003 Stefán Karel Torfason 1 2021 Bill Kazmaier 1 1988 Regin Vágadal 1 1998
Most podium finishes without winning the title AthleteTimes (breakdown) Hjalti Árnason 9 Ari Gunnarsson 7 Páll Logason 6 Andrés Guðmundsson 5 Audunn Jónsson 5 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð 3 Pétur Guðmundsson 2 Vilhjálmur Hauksson 2 Grétar Guðmundsson 2 Sigfús Fossdal 2
Strongest Man in Iceland The second major title of Iceland, this contest is organized by Magnús Ver Magnússon and is also held in different locations throughout Iceland. In the past, it has been held in Grindavík, Sudureyri, Grafarvogur and Hafnarfjördur. Unlike in Iceland's Strongest Man, if a non-Icelander wins this competition, he will be conferred with the title 'Strongest Man in Iceland'.