Strongman fans worldwide have been waiting for it and now it's about to begin: the 2005 MET-Rx 2005 World's Strongest Man kicks off tomorrow, with the qualifying rounds that will determine who goes on to the finals.

As ever, there could be last-minute changes, but here's the just-released official list of who's going head-to-head, and just what they will be doing in their quest to make the 2005 WSM finals.

Group One events are Medley, Deadlift with Barrels, Pillars of Hercules, Fingal Fingers, Overhead Log Lift for Reps, and Atlas Stones. The athletes are Jarek Dymek, Raivis Vidzis, Josh Thigpen, Mick Gosling and Dominic Filou.

Group Two events are: Medley, Giant Log Lift, Squat, Lorry Pull, Fingal Fingers and Atlas Stones. Mark Philippi, Ralf Ber, Boris Haraldsson, Elbus Nigmatulin and Sol Bathaiee are the competitors in this group.

The events for Group Three are: Medley, Squat, Pillars of Hercules, Fingal Fingers, Overhead Log for Reps and Atlas Stones. Mariusz Pudzianowski, Mikael Starow, Don Pope, Brian Irwin and Steve Bourgeois are the athletes.

Group Four events are: Medley, Deadlift with Barrels, Pillars of Hercules, Fingal Fingers, Overhead Log Lift for Reps and Atlas Stones. Janne Virtanen, Jessen Paulin, Slawomir Toczek, Dave Ostlund and Kevin Nee will be battling it out in this group.

Group Five events are: Medley, Giant Log Lift, Deadlift with Barrels, Lorry Pull, Fingal Fingers, and Atlas Stones. The competitors in this group are: Jesse Marunde, Tarmo Mitt, Terry Hollands, Carl Waitoa and Gu Yan Li.