Virtanen Edges Pudzianowski to Win the IFSA Vantaa Grand Prix
by Randall J. Strossen, IronMind Enterprises, Inc. © 2003
HELSINKI – Janne Virtanen won the IFSA Vantaa Grand Prix today, barely edging out Mariusz Pudzianowski.
Looking like a warm up for the World's Strongest Man show, the contest featured four former World's Strongest Man winners: Janne Virtanen, Magnus Samuelsson, Svend Karlsen and the defending champion, Mariusz Pudzianowski.
Top strongman competitors Raimonds Bergmanis, Jarno Hams, Juha Rasanen, and Hannu Vilko made up the rest of the field. Virtanen and Pudzianowski both finished with 44 points, winning three events each. Both also had one second place finish, but Virtanen got the win because he also had a third place finish, to Pudzianowski's fourth place finish. Juha Rasanen was third overall, with 39 points, followed by Magnus Samuelsson, at 38 points. Bergmanis was fifth, at 27 points, Karlsen was sixth, at 27 points, Vilkko was seventh, at 10 points, and Hams was eighth, at 7 points.