Sanya, China - Even his staunchest supporters were concerned about Phil Pfister's prospects in the Car Walk, so when he took the checkered flag, Pfister fans weren't shy about how they felt.


Phil Pfister motors his way to his fourth event win in a row at the 2006 WSM contest. IronMind® | Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. photo.

Coming into the Car Walk, Pfister was red hot, having won the last three events and in the process, he had cut Mariusz Pudzianowski's lead to 1-1/2 points. Still, Pudzianowski had blistered the course in this event during the qualifying round, while Pfister had suffered on it in his heat. Pfister was following Pudzianowski, which is normally considered an advantage in strongman, but in this case, you could wonder if following a quick time by Pudzianowski would undermine Pfister's confidence.

Meanwhile, Pfister had his own game plan and as an indication that he was thinking differently, at one point, he strolled up and down the course with a 140-kg barbell on his shoulders, as a warm up . . . something that caught everyone by surprise and got a lot of attention.

Pudzianowski produced a very fast time and a lot of people were reading Phil his last rites, but after setting up meticulously, he was off - first the nose of the car dipped ominously, but it quickly leveled out and Pfister was chewing up territory. He really had to work to hang on in the last meters, but he did, he won, and besides notching his fourth event win in a row, he now trailed Mariusz Pudzianowski by merely 1/2 point.

The 2006 MET-Rx World's Strongest Man contest couldn't have a better finish: Pfister and Pudzianowski, one gets first, the other gets second and it all comes down to the Atlas Stones.

Going into the final event, here are the places and points:

1. Pudzianowski 51-1/2
2. Pfister 51
3. Pope 38
4. Felix 33-1/2
5. Dymek 29
6. Wenta 28-1/2
7. Mitt 27
8. Hollands 26
9. Vidzis 23
10. Toczek 19-1/2