The Association of Oldetime Barbell and Strongmen has announced its annual dinner, set for June 22nd at the Saddle Brook Marriott (Saddle Brook, New Jersey). "History, Legends, Memories, Nostalgia, Fellowship that adds up to what our Association is about," said AOBS president Vic Boff. This year's dinner will honor Al Oerter, Joe Puleo and Kenny Hall.

As predicted, Mark Henry won the strongman contest at the Arnold Classic today. Final places and points are: 1) Henry, 25 points; 2) Karlsen, 22 points; 3) Pfister, 21-1/2 points; 4) Philippi, 20 points; 5) Bolton, 16 points; 5) Bergmanis, 16 points; 7) Gillingham, 13 points; 8) Schoonveld, 10 points.

Kuala Lumpur - Mariusz Pudzianowski increased his lead today and goes into the last day of the World's Strongest Man finals with 44 points. Savickas is in second place with 38-1/2 points. The next five places are within two points of each other: Karlsen and Girard at 28 points, Bergmanis at 27-1/2 points, Perry at 27 points, and Rasanen at 26 points. Edmunds follows at 21-1/2 points and Dimek at 19 points. Samuelsson retired from the competition yesterday, after injuring his biceps.

Kicking off the strongman contest at the Arnold Classic today with two events, Mark Henry moved into first place overall. Henry won the Apollon's Wheels, making three reps in the allotted time; Mark Philippi was the only other competitor to complete a lift, and he got one rep. Andy Bolton won the deadlift event. Points at the end of the first day, through two events, are: 1) Henry, 15 points; 2) Philippi, 12 points; 3) Gillingham, 10 points; 4) Bolton, 9 points; 5) Karlsen, 8-1/2 points; 6) Pfister, 7-1/2 points; 7) Bergmanis, 6 points; 8) Schoonveld, 4 points.

After two events today, Mark Henry leads at the Arnold Classic strongman event. Mark Philippi is in second place, and Brad Gillingham is in third place.

A revised schedule for the Sierra Strongman Shootout was just released. Day one events for the Sierra Strongman Shootout will be the keg toss, silver dollar deadlift for maximum weight, Viking press for reps and farmer's walk. Day two events are stones, Conan's wheel, yoke, and Hercules hold. The competition is scheduled for June 8th and 9th in Standard Park (Standard, California), and the entry deadline is May 15th.

Responding to athlete inquiries about the status of the strongman event being held as part of the Arnold Classic, IFSA founder Douglas Edmunds, Ph.D. issued a statement today. "IFSA sanctioned the event out of our deep respect for David Webster and his involvement in the sport," Edmunds said, noting that IFSA would be evaluating the competition to determine future IFSA participation, and that IFSA is always eager to support efforts to establish "new frontiers in the sport." Marking the recent progress in US strongman competitions, IFSA-USA, led by Jim Davis, just held the first of the four qualifying events for the US Championships later this year, which will determine which Americans go on to compete in the 2002 "World's Strongest Man" show.

In a huge victory, Karl Gillingham just won The Northeast Strongman Showdown. Defending WSM winner Svend Karlsen was second. Phil Pfister and Jesse Marunde were tied for third. Jarek Dymek was fifth and Travis Lyndon was sixth.

Karl Gillingham is the overall leader going into the final event at the Northeast Strongman Showdown. Svend Kalrsen is in second place and Phil Pfister is in third place, overall.

Scott Pospisil won the heavyweight amateur class today at the Northeast Strongman Showdown. Second place was Reidar Kvale, and third place went to Milo Mills. Janne Hartikainen won the middleweight amateurs, followed by Jeff Meadors, and Jeff Bissonette.

On June 6th, IFSA will put on Finland Verus The World, in a team format competition. Finland will be represented by: Juha Rasanen, Pasi Paavisto, Jukka Laine and Harri Simonen. Mark Philippi, Mariuz Pudianowski, Jarno Hams and Derek Boyer will make up the world team. The contest will held in Vaasa, Finland and is expected to fill the Botnia Hall with 10,000 spectators.

Finland's Janne Virtanen won this weekend's IFSA Winter Cup in Poland, with local hero Jarek Dymek coming in second place. Virtanen, who is the 2000 "World's Strongest Man" winner, finished with 41 points, to Dymek's 36. Canada's Hugo Girard was third, with 30 points, followed by Ireneusz Kuras at 27, Raimund Bergmanis at 26-1/2, Martin Muhr at 24, Vasyl Virastjuk at 18.5 and Jarno Hams at 13 points.

Whether you're a fan or a competitor, a man or woman, a professional or an amateur, this weekend's Northeast Strongman Showdown is ready to kick things to a new level in the US. Promoter Art McDermott, whose contest last year made a huge splash, has pulled together some of the world's top professional men, including 2001 "World's Strongest Man" winner Svend Karlsen (Norway) and top American Phil Pfister, plus the top women, and some amateurs who might end up giving nightmares to some of the existing pros. In the women's event, 2001 "World's Strongest Woman" winner Jill Mills (USA) will square off with Finland's Heini Kovuniemi, who was runner-up in that contest. Art McDermott says the tracks are greased for a smooth, efficiently-run competition and even though there are over 100 competitors, he thinks rather than dragging on, he might have guys asking, "Hey, can you slow things down a little" The competition starts Saturday morning and runs through Sunday evening, at the Shriner's Auditorium in Wilmington, Massachusetts, and tickets are still available at the door.

Dismissing the rumors, Yani Marchokov's coach said today that "100%" Yani was not competing at the Arnold Classic and continues his preparation for this year's World Weightlifting Championships. Marchokov, who competes for Qatar under the name Saeed Salem Jaber, is the defending superheavyweight world champion. Jaber swept the gold medals at the 2001 World Weightlifting Championships, snatching 210 kg, and cleaning and jerking 250 kg, at a bodyweight of 125.7 kg. On his third attempt, Jaber cleaned 263 kg for a world record attempt, but did not try the jerk, although it showed that he is capable of breaking all three world records in weightlifting.

Iran is set to hold a major international strongman competition February 28th and March 1st it was announced today. Jointly supported by the Iranian Strongest Man Organization Committee and the Iranian Weightlifting Federation, this contest will have eight events over the two days. Athletes named to compete are: Janne Virtanen, Brian Schoonveld, Rene Minkwitz, Regin Vagadal, Jarek Dymek, Irek Kuras, Juha Rasanen, Wout Zjilstra, Martin Muhr, plus one more international competitor and four to six Iranian competitors.