Perennial favorite World's Strongest Man is still rumored to be set for September in the Bahamas, but the big news is that the show's format is said to be up for a major overhaul. Although nothing is final yet and only a handful of people are familiar with the options being discussed, strongman fans around the world should be ready for a new and improved edition of this immensely popular contest. Although there is nothing official yet, consider as possibilities that everything from the actual events to the number of competitors to the structure of the heats to the scoring system is under review, and that the 2004 edition of World's Strongest Man will have a whole new look. Stay tuned for the details.

Defending Olympic gold medalist Hossein Tavakoli blew out his knee in an excruciating injury at the Asian Weightlifting Championships last month, but don't think it crushed his spirit. Tehran-based sports writer Negin Hosseini interviewed Tavakoli at his home and the very popular 105-kg category lifter, who looks like his next stop should be a Hollywood movie, was in good spirits. "I see good improvement in the healing process . . . I do hope I get well enough to take part in the Olympic Games. Remember: Nobody ever thought I could win a gold medal in the last Olympics, but I won it with the help of God, and now a miracle might happen again and take me to Athens. I think one should be realistic and accept the bitter realities of life, but I think there is no IMPOSSIBLE for mankind. Right now, the most important is regaining my health, and if I gain my health again, then I will certainly come back to lifting, stronger than ever. Pray for me to get well."

Whether you like to curl, chin, dip, bench or grip, you're all set for a good time in the Los Angeles area this weekend. Muscle Beach (Venice, California) is the site of Kevin Meskew's strict curl contest tomorrow morning, followed by a grip contest that will include the IronMind Hub and the IronMind Rolling Thunder for maximum weight, and a new event: holding a quarter between the ends of a No. 2 Captains of Crush gripper for time � let the handles open, the quarter falls and that's your time, with the best time winning. The best lifter in the strict curl competition and the overall winner of the grip contest will receive a $50.00 IronMind gift certificate. Moving over to Clark's Nutritional Center (Riverside, California), Starkie Sowers is holding a great event: body weight bench press for reps, chin ups and dips for reps, and the Rolling Thunder for maximum weight � enter any or all of the events and call Clark's for details: (909) 686-4757. First place in the Clark's bench press competition earns $1,500.00 cash (!) and there are piles of gift certificates, plus you can enter next year's "most improved" event, too. "Do the reps!"

When TWI decided not to hold the 2004 World's Strongest Woman contest, IFSA said it would offer a contest of its own to fill the breach, and details of the coming contest are emerging. Tentatively slated for September 1, as a two-day event, the competition is being planned for Ireland, where it will be run with an entirely new theme and what might modestly be called a very different format, featuring dramatic scenarios. Sound intriguing? Stay tuned for more details.

Illinois NASS Chairman Tony Soucie is hosting a NASS Strongman Record Breakers and an IronMind Rolling Thunder contest in Wateka, Illinois on July 2nd, and it promises to be a terrific event. The NASS records for five strongman events will be on the line: 1) The log clean and press, 2) max deadlift, 3) farmer's carry for distance, 4) Conan's wheel, and 5) the Atlas stones. Here's your chance to go to the NASS Nationals because there are Women's, Teens, Masters and Open Men's divisions, with a lightweight and heavyweight class in each, and the top three competitors from each category will quality for the nationals. If that's not enough, IFSA Pro Shawn Smith will be taking a shot at the 22 foot IFSA record with a 35-pound beer keg, and everyone who'd like to put their grip strength to the test can enter the Rolling Thunder contest. For details, please check the NASS-Illinois web site at http://home.earthlink.net/~ilnass/ and the NASS web site at http://www.nastrongman.com/ and you can email Tony Soucie with questions: s0596@earthlink.net .

In an effort to bring strongman to the level of truly global recognition, IFSA has been in serious discussions with investors who would not only bring additional money into the sport, but would also provide a higher level of business expertise. "We're going 100 miles per hour at the moment," said IFSA founder Douglas Edmunds today, describing a number of major IFSA initiatives, the most fundamental of which is the possibility of restructuring professional strongman's organizing body into IFSA Holdings, which would have the goal of bringing strongman to the same level as any other major international sport. Edmunds said that unlike past efforts by people who were unwelcome and motivated by their interest in merely taking over strongman from its founders, this group of investors and the expansion program that would result if the deal goes through has been championed by IFSA, whose key members are eager to see it succeed. "We are committed to bringing professional strongman to the level of visibility that would give it household-name status," Edmunds said.

The IronMind web site ran into serious technical problems on Friday � which only got worse on Monday and Tuesday - but they have been solved, and we would like to both apologize for this inconvenience and thank everyone for his/her patience. Many thanks!

Picking up where he left off last year, Iran's Hossein Rezazadeh won the IWF Superheavyweight Gala/Stian Grimseth Cup today in Foerde, Norway. According to Norwegian weightlifting authority Per Mattingsdal, Rezazadeh's 200-kg snatch and 250-kg clean and jerk were easy. Latvia's Victors Scerbatihs also gave an early warning to the weightlifters who are eying medals at the Athens Olympics, as he also snatched 200 kg and was content to make an "easy" 240-kg clean and jerk. Russia's Andrei Chemerkin had a rough time, and Mattingsdal described Chemerkin as being, "a shadow of his former self and had to be satisfied with 180 kg in the snatch and a very narrow 220 kg success in the clean and jerk," adding that, "maybe this was his international swan song." Regrettably, host Stian Grimseth bombed in the snatch.

Once again hosted by the Tahoe Biltmore Lodge and Casino in Crystal Bay, Nevada, the USAA National Pro-Am Armwrestling Championships had the added pull this year of being a qualifier for the 2005 Arnold. In the men's pro right catetgory last night, Takasahi Maeyama won the 0 � 154s, Chris Chandler won the 155 � 176s, Don McClary won the 177 � 198s, and John Brzenk won the 199 � 242, as well as the 242 & above class. John Brzenk also won the overall right-hand title and Eric Woelfel won the overall left-hand title. Keep your eye on www.armwrestling.com for full results and the complete list of who qualified at this tournament for the 2005 Arnold.

The Arnold Strongman competition has quickly established itself as one of the top events on the professional strongman circuit, and European strongman fans will have a chance to see the 2004 contest on Eurosport. Although you should check local listings to confirm the details, the show is scheduled for May 21, with a broadcast time of 2000 (8:00 PM) in England and 2100 (9:00 PM) on the continent.

On June 6 at Brooklyn's world famous Coney Island Beach, arm wrestlers will battle it out in the 22nd Annual White Castle Kingsboro Golden Arm Series Championships. There are classes for men and women, amateur and professional, admission is free and there are no entry fees, so plan to be there � competing and/or cheering. Contact Gene Camp for details: (718) 544-4592.

It came down to the final event, but when all was said and done, Richard Gosling won the 2004 British Strongest Man competition today, guaranteeing himself an invitation to this year's World's Strongest Man contest. Gosling's win was especially meaningful since at this point there is no guarantee that TWI will once again invite five British competitors to the World's Strongest Man (WSM) contest, and there was a feeling at the British Strongest Man contest this year that the only way of being assured an invitation to WSM was to win the British championships. Adrian Rollinson was second and Olie Thompson was third. As anticipated, the new pressing event created quite a stir and was a huge hit. This overhead press is done in super-yoke style, with two safes suspended and swinging around as the apparatus is pressed. A very knowledgeable observer said, "Jamie Reeves has absolutely outdone himself with this . . . It is the best new addition to strongman in a long time." Some puffy, split lips and at least one bloody nose among the competitors left proof of the dynamic quality of the apparatus.

St. Joseph, Missouri � With a handful of new American records reflecting the level of competition, the 2004 US Olympic Weightlifting Team Trials provided plenty of excitement yesterday in the city that has been at the forefront of the sport in the United States in recent years. The highly-coveted Olympic team slots were decided based on the lifter's percentage of the qualifying total, and lifters were coming into the Trials with the hope of either retaining or gaining one of the five berths available to American weightlifters. With two places available on the women's team, Cheryl Haworth and Tara (Nott) Cunningham had the highest rankings coming into the Trials and at the end of the day, they still had them, putting them on the team headed to Athens this summer. Cunningham, a 2000 Olympic gold medalist, finished with an 80-kg snatch, and a 97.5-kg clean and jerk in the 48-kg category. Haworth, who won a bronze medal at the 2000 Olympics, did 122.5/150 in the +75-kg category. Although neither Danica Rue (69-kg category) nor Cara Heads (75-kg category) made the 2004 US Olympic team, both set new American records: Rue with a 122.5-kg clean and jerk, and Heads with a 127.5-kg clean and jerk, and a 230-kg total. The men's team had three places available, and coming into the Trials, the three top-ranked lifters were Shane Hamman, Oscar Chaplin III, and Chad Vaughn, but hometown hero Pete Kelley was expected to make a bid to move up in the rankings and capture one of the available slots. Vaughn (77 kg) started the day as the third-ranked man, so was the most vulnerable to getting bumped, and he opened the door when he missed his first two snatches (145 kg), before coming back and making a pressure lift on his third attempt. Casey Burgener helped to light up the contest with a 171-kg American record snatch in the 105-kg category, breaking Pete Kelley's record, but it wouldn't last long, because Kelley, who has been coming on strong and had an entire cheering section of dedicated supporters, hit 172.5 on his third attempt to reclaim his record and get his day off to an excellent start. Given what he'd snatched, there was a pervasive feeling that Kelley was fully capable of cleaning and jerking what he needed to claim the third position on the men's team, but he appeared to suffer a hamstring injury on his opening clean and jerk, 207.5 kg, and he shut down as the bar came past his knees. Despite the best efforts to manage the clock and Kelley's determination to try again, when he came out for 215 kg on his second attempt, Kelley had to stop the lift almost as soon as he began his pull, and was forced by his injury to withdraw from the competition. Along with Haworth and Cunningham on the women's team, Vaughn, Chaplin and Hamman made the men's team. Michael Cohen was named the women's coach and Gayle Hatch was named the men's coach.

Three competitors were selected at random at the Britain's Strongest Man competition for drug testing, per the IFSA health and safety policy. Notably, the field at the Britain's Strongest Man competition includes a number of World's Strongest Man competitors, so the random testing might include a sample of the world's top professional strongmen.

With the qualifying heats set to start tomorrow at the Britain's Strongest Man competition, there is a tremendous sense of excitement surrounding the contest. Three heats of ten competitors will go at it for four days, followed by a rest day, and then three days of finals for the top ten competitors. This year's contest promises to be the heaviest ever, with the Farmer's Walk featuring 160-kg implements, for example. Jamie Reeves, the highly-esteemed strongman equipment designer, has devised a new overhead press apparatus that is said to look something like a super yoke. It weighs about 110 kg, will be pressed for repetitions, and based on the early reports, it will prove to be quite a challenge. Eddie Ellwood is "looking in magnificent shape," and Richard Gosling is also said to be looking very sharp. Mark Felix, a nearly forty-year old former bodybuilder originally from Grenada is reportedly bursting with power. Very popular and impressive, Andrew "Stumpy" Raynes is back in the field as well. Surveying this year's competitors and the events, an extremely knowledgeable source summed up the situation by saying, "The guy who wins Britain's Strongest Man this year will be a world contender."

IFSA-USA president Jim Davis said today that this weekend's strongman contest "is going to be a battlefield." Looking at a field of 20 top amateurs and 25 top pros, the Show-Me Strongman contest will be staged at the first fitness expo ever held in St. Louis and promises to be a top event, with "the best venue ever," Davis said, referring to the America's Center in downtown St. Louis. On his way to picking up four-time World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Ver Magnusson, who will be refereeing, Davis said that this weekend's show is a joint effort between his organization, IFSA-USA, and NASS, which is headed by Willie and Dione Wessels. The power of this partnership is tremendous, Davis said, and IFSA-USA and NASS will be teaming up more in the future. Davis said that by combining the best of the pro ranks (IFSA-USA) with the best of the amateur ranks (NASS), this partnership would to take strongman to new levels. For details, check the official IFSA-USA web site at http://www.x-tremestrongman.com/ and the official NASS web site at http://www.nastrongman.com/ .

Phil Pfister beat Odd Haugen by one-half point to win the IFSA Battle of Muscle Beach yesterday in Venice, California. This was another great Odd Haugen strongman contest, in the tradition of Beauty and the Beast: a sunny day in a picture perfect location, top competitors, heavy events and an all-around great contest. Very ably emceed by Bill Kazmaier and Bryan Neese, this was a top-flight contest from just about any perspective. It was a beautiful day at Muscle Beach and such notables as powerlifting stars David Shaw and Terry McCormick were on hand, as were Highland Games stars Shannon Harnett and Francis Brebner. In between the strongman events, guys came over and under the watchful eye of David Erives, gave the Gillingham Grip Gauntlet a try, and although David lofted the Blob, nobody nailed all three challenges (lifting the Blob, closing a No. 3 Captains of Crush gripper, hoisting the Rolling Thunder loaded with 100-kg in plates). Odd Haugen and Phil Pfister distinguished themselves on the first event in the strongman contest � the farmer's walk � and never looked back. Second year pro Jon Andersen finished in third place, overall, and first-year pro Corey St. Clair finished in a very impressive fifth place overall, drawing a lot of compliments for his performance.