Giants Live
Introduction '''Giants Live''' was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three at each contest will receive an invitation to compete at the World's Strongest Man contest for that same year.With 9 wins, Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is the most decorated Giants Live champion of all-time. Žydrūnas Savickas holds 6 wins while Eddie Hall and Evan Singleton share 5 wins each.
History On 27 April 2009, Giants Live was named the Official World's Strongest Man Qualifying Tour for 2009–2011, thus taking over from the Strongman Super Series in this regard. The first 2009 qualifying event took place on 17 May at the Mohegan Sun Casino Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut, and with the second event being the Viking Power competition.Giants Live was licensed the exclusive rights by IMG Sports Media, the creator and owner of the World's Strongest Man competition. Previously, the qualifying tournament was known as the IFSA Strongman Super Series from 2001–2004, and the World's Strongest Man Super Series from 2005–2008.Strongman Super Series continued to operate under the title of "Strongman Super Series" in 2009 and 2010, but did not have WSM qualifying status. The qualifying status went with Giants Live and Colin Bryce, the Tour's producer.At each Grand Prix event, in common with previous such series, each competitor competes in six different tests of strength with the winner crowned Grand Prix Champion. The top three athletes at each tournament will win a qualifying slot at the World's Strongest Man competition.Along with the Strongman Champions League, this event made important progress in acting as a fundamental part of a unifying movement for world strength athletics by making plans to help SCL get its athletes to the 2009 World's Strongest Man contest. SCL chief, Mostert, stated that "The top 5 SCL athletes will have places in the Giants Live tour for qualifying at World's Strongest Man (WSM) 2009". In addition, he also stated that wild cards for the WSM will include SCL athletes. He went on to say that "Finally we made it all possible again that all the athletes have chances to qualify for the WSM, which means in my opinion the WSM will have the strongest field ever in her history!" He went on to thank TWI/IMG and Giants Live for their part in making these possibilities. This was groundbreaking because for a number of years prior to this, the athletes under the IFSA had been banned by the federation from entering WSM (since the IFSA fell out of favour with TWI). Likewise, the athletes invited to participate in WSM were not invited to participate in IFSA events. Some competitions bridged the divide, such as the Arnold Strongman Classic and the Fortissimus, but neither had the history, gravitas, or popular appeal of the World's Strongest Man. Most of the IFSA athletes, with the demise of the IFSA finances, competed in SCL from 2008.This deal, along with the Fortissimus deal before it, united strongman in a way it had not been since 2004.
Producers and key staff Giants Live is a collaboration between IMG Media and Power Productions UK - owned by Colin Bryce:* Colin Bryce – an ex-Strongman competitor and Olympic bobsleigher, Bryce is currently a long-term producer of World Strongest Man through his company Power Productions and formerly the head referee and commentator on strongman events such as World's Strongest Man, Britain's Strongest Man, Strongman Super Series and World Strongman Cup. * Darren Sadler – an ex-Strongman competitor and former world champion in the U105 category, Sadler is currently a co-producer of World Strongest Man alongside Colin Bryce and formerly the head referee on for Giants Live competitions. * Magnús Ver Magnússon – an ex-Strongman competitor and four-time holder of World's Strongest Man, Magnússon is currently the head referee for Giants Live and World's Strongest Man competitions. * Bill Kazmaier – an ex-Strongman competitor and three-time holder of World's Strongest Man, Kazmaier is currently one of three main commentators for Giants Live competitions, alongside Neil Pickup and Radzi Chinyanganya. * Neil Pickup – formerly a professional arm wrestler, Pickup is currently one of three main commentators for Giants Live competitions, alongside Bill Kazmaier and Radzi Chinyanganya. Pickup is also the MC for these events. * Radzi Chinyanganya – Radzi is currently one of three main commentators for Giants Live competitions, alongside Neil Pickup and Bill Kazmaier. * Nev & Neo – The duo dream team behind the live feed* Dave Warner – Ex strongman competitor and multiple time UK strongest man competitor. One of the head judges. Judged Eddie's 500kg deadlift
Event results YearEventTypeDateChampionRunner-Up3rd Place'''2009''' Mohegan Sun Grand Prix  ''''''Sunday, 17 May 2009 '''Derek Poundstone''' Travis Ortmayer Brian Shaw Viking Power Challenge  ''''''Saturday, 6 June 2009 '''Travis Ortmayer''' Richard Skog Mikhail Koklyaev Giants Live Poland''''''Saturday, 1 August 2009 '''Jarek Dymek''' Mark Felix Stefán Sölvi Pétursson'''2010''' Giants Live South Africa  ''''''Sunday, 10 April 2010 '''Brian Shaw''' Mikhail Koklyaev Terry Hollands Giants Live Kyiv  ''''''Sunday, 30 May 2010 '''Derek Poundstone''' ''(2)'' Laurence Shahlaei Johannes Årsjö Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 19 June 2010 '''Žydrūnas Savickas''' Terry Hollands Mark Felix Giants Live Poland  ''''''Sunday, 8 August 2010 '''Vytautas Lalas''' Robert Szczepański Janusz Kułaga Giants Live Istanbul  ''''''Sunday, 24 October 2010 '''Žydrūnas Savickas''' ''(2)'' Brian Shaw Stefán Sölvi Pétursson'''2011''' Giants Live London  ''''''Saturday, 19 March 2011 '''Brian Shaw''' ''(2)'' Laurence Shahlaei Vytautas Lalas Giants Live Finland Qualifier - Pori  ''''''Friday, 13 May 2011 '''Juha-Matti Järvi''' Antti Mourujärvi Pedro Karlsen Giants Live Finland Qualifier - Masku  ''''''Saturday, 21 May 2011 '''Juha-Matti Järvi''' ''(2)'' Kai Pasanen Jarno Kirselä Giants Live Finland Qualifier - Jyväskylä  ''''''Saturday, 28 May 2011 '''Juha-Matti Järvi''' ''(3)'' Jarno Kirselä Kai Pasanen Giants Live Finland Qualifier - Oulu  ''''''Saturday, 28 May 2011 '''Juha-Matti Järvi''' ''(4)'' Jarno Kirselä Janne Illikainen Giants Live Poland  ''''''Saturday, 6 August 2011 '''Krzysztof Radzikowski''' Mike Jenkins Mateusz Baron Giants Live Finland  ''''''Saturday, 13 August 2011 '''Martin Wildauer''' Vidas Blekaitis Rauno Heinla Giants Live Ukraine  ''''''Wednesday, 24 August 2011 '''Serhiy Romanchuk''' Mark Felix Josh Thigpen'''2012''' Giants Live FitX Melbourne  ''''''Sunday, 18 March 2012 '''Mike Jenkins''' Nick Best Mike Burke Giants Live Finland  ''''''Sunday, 10 June 2012 '''Laurence Shahlaei''' Johannes Årsjö Lauri Nämi Giants Live Hungary  ''''''Sunday, 17 June 2012 '''Ákos Nagy''' Jack McIntosh Josh Thigpen Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 23 June 2012 '''Žydrūnas Savickas''' ''(3)'' Vytautas Lalas Laurence Shahlaei Giants Live Poland  ''''''Saturday, 21 July 2012 '''Krzysztof Radzikowski''' ''(2)'' Mateusz Baron Sebastian Kurek'''2013''' Giants Live FitX Melbourne  ''''''Sunday, 10 March 2013 '''Derek Poundstone''' ''(3)'' Nick Best Frankie Scheun Giants Live Hungary  ''''''Saturday, 22 June 2013 '''Mike Burke''' Eddie Hall Bjørn André Solvang Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 29 June 2013 '''Žydrūnas Savickas''' ''(4)'' Vytautas Lalas Krzysztof Radzikowski Nordic Championships  ''''''Saturday, 6 July 2013 '''Johannes Årsjö''' Ole Martin Hansen Juha-Matti Järvi Giants Live Poland  ''''''Saturday, 3 August 2013 '''Vytautas Lalas''' ''(2)'' Krzysztof Radzikowski Lauri Nämi Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Sunday, 4 August 2013 '''Laurence Shahlaei''' ''(2)'' Terry Hollands Mark Felix'''2014''' Giants Live FitX Melbourne  ''''''Saturday, 8 March 2014 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' Warrick Brant Frankie Scheun Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Sunday, 16 March 2014 '''Eddie Hall''' Graham Hicks Laurence Shahlaei World's Strongest Viking  ''''''Saturday, 5 April 2014 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(2)'' David Nyström Terry Hollands Giants Live Poland  ''''''Friday, 2 May 2014 '''Žydrūnas Savickas''' ''(5)'' Mateusz Baron Rafał Kobylarz Giants Live Hungary  ''''''Saturday, 21 June 2014 '''Jason Bergmann''' Matjaž Belšak Eddie Hall Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 9 August 2014 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(3)'' Johannes Årsjö Graham Hicks Giants Live Sweden  ''''''Saturday, 29 November 2014 '''Brian Shaw''' ''(3)'' Johannes Årsjö Martin Forsmark'''2015''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 14 February 2015 '''Eddie Hall''' ''(2)'' Mark Felix Krzysztof Radzikowski Giants Live Viking Challenge  ''''''Sunday, 7 June 2015 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(4)'' Mark Felix Martins Licis Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 11 July 2015 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(5)'' Krzysztof Radzikowski Dainis Zageris Giants Live Sweden  ''''''Saturday, 28 November 2015 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(6)'' Johannes Årsjö Mark Felix'''2016''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 30 January 2016 '''Eddie Hall''' ''(3)'' Mark Felix Laurence Shahlaei North American Open  ''''''Saturday, 26 June 2016 '''Nick Best''' Mark Felix Derek DeVaughn Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 9 July 2016 '''Laurence Shahlaei''' ''(3)'' Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Johannes Årsjö Giants Live Sweden  ''''''Saturday, 12 November 2016 '''Johannes Årsjö''' Martin Forsmark Mark Felix'''2017''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 28 January 2017 '''Eddie Hall''' ''(4)'' Laurence Shahlaei Graham Hicks Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 1 April 2017 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(7)'' Eddie Hall Terry Hollands North American Open  ''''''Saturday, 29 July 2017 '''Rob Kearney''' Nick Best Adam Derks Giants Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 29 September 2017 '''Žydrūnas Savickas''' Konstantine Janashia JF Caron Scandinavian Open  ''''''Saturday, 11 November 2017 '''Johannes Årsjö''' ''(3)'' Johnny Hansson Žydrūnas Savickas'''2018''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 27 January 2018 '''Eddie Hall''' ''(5)'' Graham Hicks Terry Hollands Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 7 April 2018 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(8)'' Konstantine Janashia Mateusz Kieliszkowski North American Open  ''''''Sunday, 10 June 2018 '''Laurence Shahlaei''' ''(4)'' Trey Mitchell Kevin Faires Giants Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 15 September 2018 '''Mateusz Kieliszkowski''' Martins Licis Adam Bishop'''2019''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 19 January 2019 '''Graham Hicks''' Adam Bishop Tom Stoltman Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 6 April 2019 '''Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson''' ''(9)'' Mateusz Kieliszkowski Konstantine Janashia Giants Live Wembley  ''''''Saturday, 6 July 2019 '''Mateusz Kieliszkowski''' ''(2)'' Jerry Pritchett Martins Licis North American Open  ''''''Saturday, 10 August 2019 '''Evan Singleton''' Kevin Faires Mark Felix Giants Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 7 September 2019 '''Mateusz Kieliszkowski''' ''(3)'' Ben Brunning Oleksii Novikov Official Strongman Games - Men's Open  ''''''Sunday, 3 November 2019 '''Luke Richardson''' Ben Brunning Jacob Fincher'''2020''' Britain's Strongest Man   ''''''Saturday, 18 January 2020 '''Adam Bishop''' Tom Stoltman Luke Stoltman Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Sunday, 6 September 2020 '''Luke Richardson''' ''(2)'' Adam Bishop Ervin Toots'''2021''' The Strongman Classic  ''''''Saturday, 24 July 2021 '''Oleksii Novikov''' Evan Singleton Cheick Sanou World Open  ''''''Saturday, 14 August 2021 '''Evan Singleton''' ''(2)'' Adam Bishop Oleksii Novikov Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 4 September 2021 '''Luke Stoltman''' Oleksii Novikov Graham Hicks Giants Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 18 September 2021 '''Luke Stoltman''' ''(2)'' Tom Stoltman Evan Singleton Arnold Sports Festival UK  ''''''Sunday, 3 October 2021 '''Evan Singleton''' ''(3)'' Oleksii Novikov Trey Mitchell Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday,  23 October 2021 '''Tom Stoltman''' Adam Bishop Graham Hicks Official Strongman Games - Men's Open  ''''''Friday, 12 November 2021 '''Pavlo Kordiyaka'''  Spenser Remick Tyler Cotton'''2022''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 26 February 2022 '''Tom Stoltman''' ''(2)'' Pa O'Dwyer Adam Bishop Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 2 April 2022 '''Oleksii Novikov''' ''(2)'' Luke Stoltman Konstantine Janashia The Strongman Classic  ''''''Saturday, 9 July 2022 '''Oleksii Novikov''' ''(3)'' Mitchell Hooper  Evan Singleton The Giants Live Open  ''''''Saturday, 6 August 2022 '''Pavlo Nakonechnyy''' Mitchell Hooper  Oleksii Novikov Giants Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 8 October 2022 '''Mitchell Hooper''' Aivars Šmaukstelis Kevin Faires World's Strongest Nation  ''''''Saturday, 26 November 2022 '''Team UK'''  Team USA'''2023''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 28 January 2023 '''Adam Bishop''' ''(2)'' Gavin Bilton Graham Hicks Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 1 April 2023 '''Pavlo Kordiyaka''' ''(2)'' Oleksii Novikov  Aivars Šmaukstelis The Strongman Classic  ''''''Saturday, 8 July 2023  '''Evan Singleton''' ''(4)'' Tom Stoltman Mitchell Hooper  The Strongman Open  ''''''Saturday, 2 September 2023 '''Evan Singleton''' ''(5)'' Gavin Bilton Shane Flowers  Britain's Strongest Women  ''''''Saturday, 30 September 2023  '''Rebecca Roberts''' Lucy Underdown Andrea Thompson  England's Strongest Man  ''''''Sunday, 1 October 2023  '''Luke Richardson''' '' (3)'' Kane Francis  Patrick Haynes  Giant's Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 21 October 2023 '''Tom Stoltman''' ''(3)'' Matthew Ragg  Mitchell Hooper  World's Strongest Nation  ''''''Saturday, 18 November 2023 '''Team USA''' Team UK'''2024''' Britain's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 27 January 2024 '''Tom Stoltman''' ''(4)''  Gavin Bilton  Luke Stoltman  Europe's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 13 April 2024    England's Strongest Man  ''''''Saturday, 22 June  2024    Britain's Strongest Woman  ''''''Saturday, 22 June  2024    The Strongman Classic  ''''''Saturday, 13 July 2024 The Strongman Open ''''''Saturday, 7 September 2024 US Strongman Championship ''''''Saturday, 28 September 2024 Giants Live Finals  ''''''Saturday, 19 October 2024
Most wins ChampionCountryWinsPodiumsHafþór Júlíus Björnsson    9  10Žydrūnas Savickas     6  7Eddie Hall    5  8Evan Singleton    5  7Laurence Shahlaei    4  10Tom Stoltman    4  8Juha-Matti Järvi    4  5Johannes Årsjö    3  9Oleksii Novikov    3  9Mateusz Kieliszkowski    3  5Brian Shaw    3  5Derek Poundstone    3  3Luke Richardson    3  3
References
External links * Giants Live official website* www.colinbryce.com* Europe's Strongest Man official website