With his head swathed in bandages from a car accident he'd been in just days before the Britain's Strongest Man contest, Jimmy Marku "was looking very gladiatorial," especially as blood poured down his face during the wrestling event, but a little bleeding never stopped him from picking up the prestigious strongman title, along with an invitation to the 2008 World's Strongest Man contest.

Terry Hollands finished second and Mark Felix was third, in what can only be described as a tremendous battle at Britain's Strongest Man.

IronMind® asked a highly-respected strongman expert with a particularly keen understanding of the British strongman community if Jimmy Marku's victory was the big upset it would seem to many observers.

"It was in the post, but we didn't see it coming," he told IronMind®.

While only Jimmy Marku is guaranteed an invitation to World's Strongest Man based on his Britain's Strongest Man performance, there is a feeling that the World's Strongest Man field might end up containing about five Brits, as well as five Americans, so Terry Hollands and Mark Felix, for example, could well be moving on to WSM 2008 even without winning in Minehead today.

Here are the final places - this is unofficial, but IronMind® believes they are accurate:

1. Jimmy Marku
2. Terry Hollands
3. Mark Felix
4. Lawrence Shahlaei
5. Mark Westaby
6. Oli Thompson
7. Eddie Ellwood
8. Darren Sadler

Please check the official World's Strongest Man website for the Britain's Strongest Man broadcast details.