Responding to direct questions about whether or not the IFSA Strongman World Championships scheduled for Quebec were still on, Dr. Douglas Edmunds, IFSA's founding father, said, "Yes."

At the moment, strongman seems to be going the way of powerlifting, with a federation to suit every fancy, and a rumor mill that runs at close to redline levels.

And unlike what you might hear on the street, Dr. Edmunds said that the IFSA Worlds are on.

As an indication of its commitment to the event, Dr. Edmunds said that the IFSA event equipment - the stunning stainless steel IFSA kit created by Jamie Reeves - is being shipped to Quebec next week, and he pointed out that the second and third qualifying events will take place in Brazil in less than two weeks.

"We have three semi-finals," Dr. Edmunds explained. "Zydrunas Savickas, Andrus Murumets, Raimonds Bergmanis and Tomi Lotta qualified at the Europeans," said Dr. Edmunds, noting that performances at the upcoming IFSA Pan American Championships and the IFSA World Open in Brazil would be the basis for winning the remaining slots for the IFSA World Championships, with one exception.

"Virastiuk gets a bye," Dr. Edmunds said. "He's the only one."

Currently recovering from an injury, Vasyl Virastiuk won the 2004 World's Strongest Man contest, a title that Dr. Edmunds says he recognizes since, "We were there," referring to IFSA's involvement in that contest.