The Strongman Super Series, known from 2001 to 2004 as the ''IFSA World Strongman Super Series'', from 2005 to 2008 as the ''World's Strongest Man Super Series'', and reverting in 2009 to the ''World Strongman Super Series'', is a sequence of grand prix events in the sport of

strength athletics Strength athletics, also known as Strongman competitions, is a sport which tests competitors' strength in a variety of non-traditional ways. Some of the disciplines are similar to those in powerlifting and some powerlifters have also successfully ...

. It was introduced in 2001 in response to concerns that, unlike other individual sports such as

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, there was no recognized international "tour" in strength athletics. The Strongman Super Series ensures that there are a number of high-profile, professionally run contests during the year, with competitors' placings being used to decide the overall Super Series Champion. Typically, ten to twelve athletes take part in each GP, comprising the top six in the international rankings and at least four qualifiers or wildcard entries. The winner of each grand prix receives ten series points, the second placed, nine, and so on. The highest scoring competitor at the end of the series is named World Champion. World Class Events ("WCE") ran the Super Series in co-operation with the

International Federation of Strength Athletes The International Federation of Strength Athletes (IFSA or IFSA Strongman) was an international governing body for strongman competition. IFSA operated from 1995-2007 and was based in Glasgow, Scotland. History Origins In 1995, David Webster, ...

("IFSA") from 2001 to 2004 until IFSA cut ties with WCE and

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international Strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decem ...

and began promoting their own grand prix events and world championships. In 2005, WCE signed a deal with Trans World International ("TWI"), the world's largest independent producer and distributor of sports programming, to have the exclusive rights worldwide to be the only qualifying tour to the

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event for 2005–2008. The top four athletes from each Grand Prix competition receive an automatic invitation to WSM. On April 27, 2009

Giants Live Giants Live was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three ...

, an arena-based series of live strongman competitions, was named the Official World's Strongest Man Qualifying Tour for 2009–2011, thus taking over from the Strongman Super Series in this regard. The first 2009 qualifying event took place on May 17 at the

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, and the second event being the Viking Power competition in Norway, and finishing off the 2009 season in Poland.

Super Series World Champions

2001

The

co-produced the Strongman Super Series events from 2001 to 2004 along with World Class Events (WCE)/Ulf Bengtsson.

2002

2003/04

2004

2005

Beginning in 2005, WSM/WCE cut all ties with IFSA, who had begun promoting their own separate grand prix events and world championships. The Strongman Super Series then became known as the ''World's Strongest Man Super Series'' and was the official qualifying tour for

from 2005 to 2008.

2006

2007

2008

2009

replaced the World's Strongest Man Super Series beginning in 2009 as the official qualifying tour for the

. However, Strongman Super Series continued to hold events under the new title of ''World Strongman Super Series'' in 2009 & 2010.Official site breaking news
/ref> Events from 2001 to 2006 fro

2010

References

External links

WSM Super Series Official website to 2008World Strongman Super Series Official website from 2009
{{Strongman Super Series World Champions Strongmen competitions