Although still subject to change, a list of the most likely qualifying events for the 2004 World's Strongest Man contest is under discussion.

At the moment, the events considered most likely to be included are: Atlas Stones, Loading Race, Squat, Deadlift, and Fingal's Fingers.

In the category of less certain at the moment but still on the shortlist are: Giant Farmer's Walk, Bike Yoke, Fridge Carry, Truck Pull, Stone Circle, Safe Lift, and Sumo.

The Sumo event, if it takes place, is seen as pitting each competitor against a Sumo wrestler, and even though each member of each pair of strongmen would compete against the Sumo wrestler one at a time, the member of the each pair who lasted longer would be declared the winner in that pair.  Bonus points in that event would follow the same logic as used in the other events, so, for example, after surviving the first 25 seconds, a competitor would get one extra point for each additional ten-second period he lasted, up to the event limit of 75 seconds.

As currently envisioned, this year's WSM contest, with 12 athletes paired up differently for each of the eleven events, can be seen as a series of duals, which will provide a dramatically different format than has been used in the past. "Whoever thought this up deserves a lot of credit," said top strongman competitor and promoter Odd Haugen. "This should be very exciting."