World Strongman Cup Federation

The World Strongman Cup Federation ("WSCF") was a worldwide organisation within strength athletics that claimed to be the sport's organising body with the aim of making "the Strongman Sport more popular and accessible for a wide range of the people." Its motto was "be strong". It was also a charity. The Federation organised the World Strongman Cup one of the main competitions in the field of strength athletics boasting participation from some of the foremost strongmen around the globe. It was a separate competition from the World's Strongest Man, the Strongman Super Series (producing a World Champion) and the IFSA World Championship). It has since been replaced by the World Strongman Federation's World Cup.

World Strongman Cup Federation

Formation	2004
Type	Sports federation
Headquarters	Salzburg, Austria
Website	world-strongmancup.at

History

Until completion of the 2004 World's Strongest Man competition, the IFSA managed the annual World's Strongest Man contest. However, that year saw an acrimonious dividing of the sport with the IFSA forming its own competition and with the World's Strongest Man ("WSM") continuing to be organised by TWI, an IMG Media company. The WSM itself was never a federation, but an event organised commercially. When the IFSA formed their own competition and banned their contracted athletes from competing in the WSM, the World Strongman Cup Federation ("WSCF") filled a void and signed up many of the non-IFSA athletes. At the 2005 WSM finals, two thirds of the athletes were under contract with the WSCF. Since its inception the WSMCF has organised events in many countries including: United States of America, Canada, Germany, Austria, Russia, Serbia, Poland and Spain. Its flagship event was the World Strongman Cup.

Following a financial dispute with the World Strongman Cup Federation Vlad Redkin, one of its chief organisers, left to found the World Strongman Federation. Following Vlad's departure, the WSCF ceased to promote events and effectively disappeared from the strength athletics landscape. In September 2007 an event in Khanty-Mansijsk formerly affiliated to WSMC and featuring its athletes was promoted by Vlad Redkin. This event had its name changed at short notice from WSMC to the Grand Prix of Khanty-Mansijsk (Russia) and in effect was the first WSF event. The reason given after the competition by Redkin was that a combination of financial reasons as well as concerns over WSMCF's stated aim of forming closer ties with the International Federation of Strength Athletes led him to part company with WSMCF. He initially planned to cooperate closely with the World Strongman Super Series in 2008, but in fact set up a new federation called the World Strongman Federation.

World Strongman Cup

The official logo of World Strongman Cup Federation
Tournament information
Location	Varies The cup is won through a series of competitions held throughout the world
Established	2004
Final year	2007
Format	A number of Multi-event competitions within an annual tour
Final champion
Mariusz Pudzianowski

World Strongman Cup

The World Strongman Cup has been run since 2004. It is organised as a tour event with many competitions held throughout the globe. The overall winner is ascertained through the cumulation of points scored across the season.

List of Champions

Year	Athlete	Nationality
2004	Raivis Vidzis	Latvia
2005	Raivis Vidzis	Latvia
2006	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Poland
2007	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Poland

2004

Name and Location	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Date
Gran Canaria, Spain Strongman Cup Spain	Mykhailo Starov	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	28 February 2004
Villach, Austria Strongman Cup Kärtnen	Glenn Ross	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	3 April 2004
Immenstadt, Germany Strongman Cup Immenstadt	Igor Pedan	Glenn Ross	Raivis Vidzis	22 May 2004
Plattling, Germany Strongman Cup Plattling-Luna Park	Ralf Ber	Mykhailo Starov	Raivis Vidzis	26 June 2004
Bad Häring, Austria Strongman Cup Bad Häring	Igor Pedan	Glenn Ross	Raivis Vidzis	10 July 2004
Świnoujście, Poland Strongman Cup Poland	Raivis Vidzis	Igor Pedan	Ralf Ber	31 July 2004
Subotica, Serbia European Masters Strongman Cup	Glenn Ross	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	4 September 2004
Moscow, Russia Strongman Cup Russia	Mykhailo Starov	Igor Pedan	Raivis Vidzis	2 October 2004
Edmonton, Canada Strongman Cup Canada	Dave Ostlund	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	11 December 2004
Overall placings	Raivis Vidzis

2005

Name and Location	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Date
Minsk, Belarus Strongman Cup Belarus	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	Antanas Abrutis	7 May 2005
Wexford, Ireland Strongman Cup Ireland	Antanas Abrutis	Tarmo Mitt	Glenn Ross	21 May 2005
Wakefield, England Strongman Cup England	Glenn Ross	Brian Irwin	Jesse Marunde	5 June 2005
Denver, Colorado, United States Strongman Cup USA	Raivis Vidzis	Glenn Ross	Ralf Ber	2 July 2005
Bad Häring, Austria Strongman Cup Austria	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Mykhailo Starov	Ralf Ber	6 August 2005
Ladysmith, Canada Strongman Cup Canada	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	Ed Brost	28 August 2005
Nuremberg, Germany Strongman Cup Germany	Franz Beil	Ralf Ber	Mykhailo Starov	18 September 2005
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia Strongman Cup Russia	Raivis Vidzis	Jesse Marunde	Elbrus Nigmatullin	17 December 2005
Overall placings	Raivis Vidzis	Ralf Ber	Tarmo Mitt

2006

Name and Location	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Date
Riga, Latvia Strongman Cup Latvia	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Raivis Vidzis	Elbrus Nigmatullin	6 May 2006
Armagh, Northern Ireland Strongman Cup Northern Ireland	Ralf Ber	Glenn Ross	Tarmo Mitt	27 May 2006
Minsk, Belarus Strongman Cup Belarus	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Raivis Vidzis	Elbrus Nigmatullin	17 June 2006
Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany Strongman Cup Germany	Jarek Dymek	Mykhailo Starov	Tarmo Mitt	1 July 2006
Moscow, Russia Strongman Cup Moscow	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Janne Virtanen	Elbrus Nigmatullin	31 July 2006
Vienna, Austria Strongman Cup Austria	Stoyan Todorchev	Vasyl Virastiuk	Ervin Katona	22 October 2006
Grodzisk Mazowiecki, Poland Strongman Cup Poland	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Sebastian Wenta	Stoyan Todorchev	25 November 2006
Podolsk, Russia Strongman Cup Russia	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Elbrus Nigmatullin	Stoyan Todorchev	16 December 2006
Overall placings	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Tarmo Mitt	Elbrus Nigmatullin

2007

Name and Location	Champion	Runner-Up	3rd Place	Date
Riga, Latvia Strongman Cup Latvia	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Raivis Vidzis	Tarmo Mitt	13 May 2007
Moscow, Russia Strongman Cup Moscow	Janne Virtanen	Stoyan Todorchev	Derek Boyer	1 July 2007
Dartford, England Strongman Cup England	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Stoyan Todorchev	Terry Hollands	22 July 2007
Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia Grand Prix of Khanty-Mansiysk	Stoyan Todorchev	Tarmo Mitt	Elbrus Nigmatullin	8 September 2007
Overall placings	Mariusz Pudzianowski	Stoyan Todorchev	Raivis Vidzis

Charity

The charity aims to reduce and tackle obesity in children by helping more children to take part in sporting activities. It is the charity's belief that "As these children become more interested in and able to enjoy sports of their choosing, their physical and emotional conditions show significant improvement. This provides a strong foundation for improved self-confidence and happiness for all participants." The federation believes that their athletes can act as positive examples.

External links

• Official Site