The inaugural Rolling Thunder® World Championships kicked off the 2000 Beauty and the Beast strongman competition yesterday in Hawaii. Staged in Honolulu's All-Star Cafe, the Rolling Thunder World Championships drew most of the known top-performers in this popular test of grip strength, but it was a newcomer to the event, Jan Bartel, who won, with a world record weight of 265.4 pounds (120.4 kg). Phil Pfister, a pre-contest favorite, was second, and Janne Virtanen was third, both lifting 251.5 pounds.