Giants Live is the official qualifying tour for the World’s Strongest Man contest and last weekend’s competition, the final stop in 2009, provided a sneak preview of who might do what at this year’s World’s Strongest Man contest.

First, here are the official final places and scores:

1. Jarek Dymek 64.5 points
2. Mark Felix 55
3. Stefan Solvi Petursson 46.5
4. Kevin Nee 45
5. Darren Sadler 43.5
6. Laurence Shahlaei 28
7. Sławomir Łukawski 18
8. Konstantyn Ilin 16.5
9. Damian Antoniok 15
10. Rob Frampton 13
11. Rolands Gulbis 6
12. Tarmo Mitt 6

Even more telling is the story behind the numbers and for that IronMind® was fortunate to get some comments directly from Giants Live founder Colin Bryce.

“Dymek looked like he did six or seven years ago,” Bryce told IronMind®, which is a heads-up for World’s Strongest Man competitors.  “He is very hungry to make yet another [WSM] final.”

“It was good to see Mark Felix on top form again - winning the deadlift with ease,” Bryce said of the man with an unworldly combination of grip strength and back strength.   “Kevin Nee may well have won the whole contest but a terrible performance in the tyres caused him to go backward in the overall results,” Bryce reported to IronMind, speaking of a perennial crowd favorite.  On a related note, Bryce told IronMind®, “WSM competitors who are a little nervous of their biceps will be pleased to hear that Tyre Flip has been ruled out of WSM this year as too many biceps have been torn off in that event recently.”

Last, but certainly not least, is the young Icelander Stefan Solvi Petursson and his talents caught Bryce’s eye: “Stefan Solvi Petersson has come of age, too. The 23-year-old Icelander is a good bet to make the WSM finals this year.”