Although IFSA president Jussi Laurimaa noted that "this first ranking is still quite influenced by attendance in addition to performance," there is no question that strongman competitors and fans worldwide will pour over this list.

"The current World Ranking is based on the results of these first 15 IFSA sanctioned top-tier events," said Laurimaa.

Here are the top dozen athletes, along with their current points for the 2005 season, which "started at the Arnolds in March, has now seen 15 IFSA sanctioned top-tier events, plus approximately twice that number of competitions sanctioned by our national federations," Laurimaa explained.

1. Zydrunas Savickas 35 points
2. Svend Karlsen 20
3. Vasyl Virastyuck 16
4. Tomi Lotta 15
5. Etienne Smit 15
6. Bernd Kerschbaumer 13
7. Glenn Ross 12
8. Andrus Muramets 11
9. Mark Felix 10
11. Pedro Moriana, 10
11. Jani Illikainen 10
12. Mark Philippi 10

Watch for the complete ranking list coming soon on the IFSA website.  

Jussi Laurimaa also noted that "the cumulative prize money of the season thus far just broke the US$250,000 mark this week," as another indication of where IFSA stands vis-a-vis its plans to bring strongman to an entirely new level.