Following his last-minute plea for a spot in the Fortissimus lineup, top international strongman competitor Vasyl Virastyuk has missed the deadline for confirming his participation and has been eliminated from the roster, IronMind® has been told.

The Fortissimus organizing committee has chosen its replacement and also told IronMind® that this "world-class competitor" is a European strongman, but his name will not be released until final details have been completed, so stay tuned for more details on this.

Also of great interest in terms of this year's major strongman competition, the Fortissimus organizing committee has issued a statement to clear the confusion regarding ticket sales:

"At its meeting on Saturday, May 10, FORTISSIMUS 2008 has decided to reserve a package of 350 tickets for foreign customers (USA, other Canadian provinces and overseas all included). Such a reservation is guaranteed from May 15 to June 6.  For details, log in to www.forticyr.com/tickets and for additional information call +1 418 469 2802, extension #6."