Kicking off the 2001 European professional strongman circuit in grand style, the IFSA Strongest Man in Europe competition will be held on March 17th in Helsinki, Finland.

The start list at this point includes: Janne Virtanen, Svend Karlsen, Magnus Samuelsson, Martin Muhr, Riku Kiri and Ireneuz Kuras.

Kuras is a new competitor from Poland and his arms are reported to be 65 cm (a little over 25-1/2 inches).  During the break in the strongman events, a shot put competition will be held, featuring Arsi Harju, gold medalist at the Sydney Olympics.