Riku Kiri (born April 5, 1963 in

Kotka Kotka (; ) is a town in Finland, located on the southeastern coast of the country at the mouth of the Kymi River. The population of Kotka is approximately , while the Kotka-Hamina sub-region, sub-region has a population of approximately . It is th ...

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

) is a Finnish former

strongman Strongman is a competitive strength sport which tests athletes' physical strength and endurance through a variety of heavy lifts and events. Strongman competitions are known for their intensity, pushing athletes to their physical and mental limit ...

and

powerlifter Powerlifting is a competitive strength sport that consists of three attempts at maximal weight on three lifts: squat, bench press, and deadlift. As in the sport of Olympic weightlifting, it involves the athlete attempting a maximal weight singl ...

, best known for competing in the

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 Decemb ...

competition, narrowly missing out on capturing the title on more than one occasion. He has been referred to as: "the strongest man never to win World's Strongest Man." Having competed in 25 International strongman competitions and winning 11 of them, Kiri is among the 20 most decorated strongmen of all time.

Life and career

The 1.94 m (6 ft 4 in), 145 kg (320 lb) Kiri is particularly noted for his static strength including a 300 kg (661.4 lb) single-arm

deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

and a 302.5 kg (666.9 lbs) raw

bench press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

. He squatted 440 kg in the Dutch Open strongman contest of 1995 in a Smith machine apparatus. He also bench pressed 290.0 kg (639.3 lb) raw in an official WPC meet along with many other records. At 19 years old in 1983, Riku held a World Record in powerlifting in the squat lift in IPF competition, 350 kg (125 kg weight category). In one of his first ever strongest man contests, he defeated reigning World's Strongest Man winner Jón Páll Sigmarsson, in 1985. For most of his appearances in

competition, Kiri has been hampered by

ankle The ankle, the talocrural region or the jumping bone (informal) is the area where the foot and the leg meet. The ankle includes three joints: the ankle joint proper or talocrural joint, the subtalar joint, and the inferior tibiofibular joint. The ...

injuries. Although Kiri placed 3rd and 2nd respectively in

1993 The United Nations General Assembly, General Assembly of the United Nations designated 1993 as: * International Year for the World's Indigenous People The year 1993 in the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands had only 364 days, since its ...

and

1996 1996 was designated as: * International Year for the Eradication of Poverty Events January * January 8 – A Zairean cargo plane crashes into a crowded market in the center of the capital city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo ...

, ankle injuries plagued him during both contests. In reference to the Car Carry event in 1993, Kiri's coach, Markku Suonenvirta, famously said: "His ankle is broken but he's a tough guy." Kiri's ankle was in fact not broken but badly injured and weakened. In the 1996 WSM final event (Power Stairs) Kiri was about to go head to head with Magnus Ver Magnusson. However, just after the starter's whistle, Kiri dropped out due to another ankle injury. Kiri was also forced to drop out of the 1998 World's Strongest Man final due to an ankle injury, finishing in 6th place. His background is in security work, and he holds shares in Gold's Gym-Helsinki.

Personal records

Strongman

* Deadlift (for reps) – x 4 reps, x 7 reps (raw) * Silver dollar

safe A safe (also called a strongbox or coffer) is a secure lockable enclosure used for securing valuable objects against theft or fire. A safe is usually a hollow cuboid or cylinder, with one face being removable or hinged to form a door. The body ...

squat (for reps) – × 4 reps (1999 AFSA Dubai Full Strength Challenge) (World Record) * Log press – (1997 World's Strongest Man, group 2) * Log press (for reps) – x 15 reps (1998 IFSA German Grand Prix) * Atlas stones – 5 stones weighing (1998 IFSA Hungary Grand Prix) * Natural Stone press – (1997 Europe's Strongest Man) * Stone block throw – over (1992 World Muscle Power Classic) (World Record) * Keg toss – over (1997 European Open) (former world record) * Duck walk – for 12m course in 15.03 seconds (1999 AFSA Dubai Full Strength Challenge) (World Record) * Cable drum push – on a 5 hump course in 38.41 seconds (1999 AFSA Dubai Full Strength Challenge) (World Record) * Arm over arm plane pull – for 15m course in 27.70 seconds (1993 World Viking Challenge) (World Record)

Powerlifting

* Squat – (raw) *

Bench Press The bench press or chest press is a weight training exercise where a person presses a weight upwards while lying horizontally on a weight training bench. The bench press is a Compound movements, compound movement, with the primary muscles involved ...

– (raw) *

Deadlift The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

– (raw) *Total – (raw)

References

External links

*
Interview at Samson Power
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kiri, Riku 1963 births Living people Finnish strength athletes Finnish powerlifters Sportspeople from Kotka