The first two events of the finals took the athletes to beautiful Dana Point. The question was, do favorites like Phil Pfister (USA) or Mariusz Pudzianowski (Poland) get off to a good start.

Loading Race

The first event of the day was the Loading Race. The ten strongmen were seperated in two different groups. Five athletes each, as they competed in a relay against one another. The goal of this event is to carry four different sized barrels and place them on top of one platform.

In relay number one Dave Ostlund from the United States showed why he is one of the strongest men of the world. With his great technique he managed to lift all four barrels onto the platform in 44,10 seconds. He finished first in his relay but third for the event.

That is because two other contestants were even faster. Terry Hollands (England) put in a great show and was done after 43,73 seconds only to be beaten by the Polish star Mariusz Pudzianowski. He was incredibly quick and was able to watch the other participants after 37, 22 seconds.

Phil Pfister finished fourth at this event. His time was 47,81.

Tarmo Mitt from Estonia could not finish his attempt as he injured his right arm. He is out of the competition.

Safe Lift (the second)

The second event of the day was the Safe Lift. The rules were the same as in the qualifying rounds but the safes were 15kg heavier.

Mark Felix (England) managed seven lifts, Kevin Nee (USA) did ten reps. Don Pope (USA) had ten, Magnus Samuelsson (Sweden) eleven repetitions.

But nobody was able to beat the two remaining Poles in this event. Mariusz continued his great effort and lifted the safes 15 times. His fellow country-man Sebastian Wenta had the best rhythm going and finished with 17 lifts.

In total Mariusz Pudzianowski holds the lead ahead of Wenta and Pfister.

Second day of the finals is tomorrow. We are located at the Convention Center in Anaheim. It starts at 8:30 a.m. As a reminder there will be the Firetruck Pull tomorrow and you don't want to miss that!