The first day of competition was just completed at AFSA's "World Full Strength Challenge" in Dubai (United Arab Emirates).

Standings after today's events are: 1) Flemming Rasmussen (Denmark) 21 points, 2) Riku Kiri (Finland) 18 points, 3) Bill Lyndon (Australia) 17 points, 4) & 5) Magnus Ver Magnusson (Iceland ) and Heinz Ollesch (Germany) tied with 13 points, 6) & 7) Wayne Price (South Africa) and Derek Boyer (Fiji) tied with 9 points. Phil Makdisi (USA) was reported as injured, although the exact details could not yet be confirmed.

AFSA president Manfred Hoeberl reported that the contest, "Superseded our expectations. We had a sold out show...must have had in all between 20,000 and 30,000 people. It was unbelievable. We had three and a half hours live on TV. Tomorrow's events include squatting for reps with 200 kg of gold, which has a current value of approximately US$2.5 million."