# Strength athletics in Sweden

Strength athletics in Sweden refers to the participation of Swedish competitors and holding national strongman competitions.

## History

Sweden has a long and rich history of strength athletics dating back to the mid 1900s in the sport of Olympic weightlifting with Bo Johansson in the 1960s and 1970s, and several top ranked IPF Powerlifters such as Lars Hedlund and Lars Norén during the 1980s. Sweden has been at the top international level in World's Strongest Man since the very beginning in the late 1970s with Lars Hedlund achieving numerous podium finishes. Sweden struggled through the 1980s and early 1990s until the arrival of Magnus Samuelsson in 1995. Samuelsson would go on to win the 1998 World's Strongest Man, Sweden's only WSM title. Magnus continued to win major international contests and be a top podium finisher at WSM until his retirement in 2008. In recent years, Johannes Årsjö has continued to maintain Sweden's top position on the international scene with numerous podium finishes at major international contests.

## National competitions
### Sweden's Strongest Man

Sweden's Strongest Man (Swedish: Sveriges Starkaste Man) is an annual Strongman competition held in Sweden and featuring exclusively Swedish athletes, to determine who the strongest Swede of the year is.
Magnus Samuelsson and Johannes Årsjö have both won the competition 9 times, thus sharing the record for most wins.

#### Champions breakdown

The competition has been held every year since 1995 and has produced nine champions over the years.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
| 1995 | Magnus Samuelsson | Jörgen Ljungberg | (To be confirmed) |
| 1996 | Magnus Samuelsson | Jorma Paananen | Torbjörn Samuelsson |
| 1997 | Magnus Samuelsson | Jörgen Ljungberg | Torbjörn Samuelsson |
| 1998 | Torbjörn Samuelsson | Jorma Paananen | (To be confirmed) |
| 1999 | Magnus Samuelsson | Jorma Paananen | Torbjörn Samuelsson |
| 2000 | Magnus Samuelsson | Torbjörn Samuelsson | Anders Johansson |
| 2001 | Magnus Samuelsson | Torbjörn Samuelsson | Anders Johansson |
| 2002 | Torbjörn Samuelsson | Anders Johansson | Jorma Paananen |
| 2003 | Magnus Samuelsson | Jörgen Ljungberg | Kalle Lane |
| 2004 | Magnus Samuelsson | Jörgen Ljungberg | Benny Wennberg |
| 2005 | Magnus Samuelsson | Anders Johansson | Robert Brolin |
| 2006 | Anders Johansson | Björn Andersson | Tomas Karlsson |
| 2007 | Anders Johansson | Stefan Bergqvist | Daniel Wiklund |
| 2008 | Anders Johansson | Peter Rundberg | Stefan Bergqvist |
| 2009 | Johannes Årsjö | Anders Johansson | Mikael Hoffner |
| 2010 | Johannes Årsjö | Stefan Bergqvist | Peter Rundberg |
| 2011 | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark | Stefan Bergqvist |
| 2012 | Johannes Årsjö | Sebastian Davidsson | Martin Forsmark |
| 2013 | Johannes Årsjö | Sebastian Davidsson | David Nyström |
| 2014 | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark | David Nyström |
| 2015 | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark | Johnny Hansson |
| 2016 | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark | Joachim Gustavsson |
| 2017 | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark | Johnny Hansson |
| 2018 | Martin Forsmark | Torbjörn Persson | Johan Espenkrona |
| 2019 | Martin Forsmark | Andreas Ståhlberg | Johan Espenkrona |
| 2020 | Johnny Hansson | Martin Forsmark | Fredrik Svensson |
| 2021 | Marcus Yngvesson | Johan Espenkrona | Fredrik Svensson |
| 2022 | Andreas Ståhlberg | Johnny Hansson | Joachim Kvick |
| 2023 | Fredrik Johansson | Marcus Yngvesson | Cim Johansson |
| 2024 | Fredrik Johansson | Cim Johansson | Marcus Yngvesson |

#### Repeat champions

| Champion | Times & years |
| Magnus Samuelsson | 9 (1995, 1996, 1997, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2004, 2005) |
| Johannes Årsjö | 9 (2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017) |
| Anders Johansson | 3 (2006, 2007, 2008) |
| Torbjörn Samuelsson | 2 (1998, 2002) |
| Martin Forsmark | 2 (2018, 2019) |
| Fredrik Johansson | 2 (2023, 2024) |

## Regional Competitions
### Nordic Strongman Championships

Nordic Strongman Championships consists of athletes from Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Denmark.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
| 2005 | Svend Karlsen | Magnus Samuelsson | Juha-Matti Räsänen |
| 2012 | 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
### Giants Live

Sweden was also the venue for several Giants Live grand prix competitions with the participation of top athletes of the world. The competitions were named Giants Live Sweden/ Scandinavian Open.
| Year | Champion | Runner-Up | 3rd Place |
| 2014 | Brian Shaw | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark |
| 2015 | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Johannes Årsjö | Mark Felix |
| 2016 | Johannes Årsjö | Martin Forsmark | Mark Felix |
| 2017 | Johannes Årsjö | Johnny Hansson | Žydrūnas Savickas |