Svend Viking Karlsen (born 6 October 1967) is a Norway former strongman, Powerlifting, Bodybuilding and 2001 World's Strongest Man.
Being a winner of the World's Strongest Man, the Europe's Strongest Man, the World Muscle Power Classic and 3 times runner up at the Arnold Strongman Classic, he is regarded as one of the greatest strongmen in history. He is also well known for shouting his catch phrase "Viking Power!" during competitions.
Early life
Born in
Drammen, Karlsen was already a child with an unusual athleticism, and his mother recorded him in photos posing to show muscles at the age of three. After seeing a photo of Arnold Schwarzenegger Karlsen decided to train for muscles and strength at age 13, and soon spent six to eight hours of his day in the gym, training, making friends and learning from the more experienced.
Powerlifting and bodybuilding
Once he started showing remarkable strength gains, Karlsen started out as a powerlifter in 1986, winning a number of titles and setting 30
Norwegian people records, 3
records, and 1 world record by 1989.
Soon after, Karlsen began pursuing a career in bodybuilding. He traveled on the road doing posing exhibitions with some bodybuilding friends to help pay the bills. Karlsen won the Mr. Norway title, and took second place at the World Games. This victory earned him his IFBB pro card in 1993 and paved the way for him to compete as a professional. Karlsen moved to California to focus on his bodybuilding career, and his first pro show was the IFBB Night of Champions. Karlsen suffered a severe muscle tear that forced him to retire from bodybuilding, and in 1996 he quickly moved on to strongman competitions.
Strongman career
Karlsen competed in one of the 1996 World's Strongest Man qualifying heats and narrowly missed qualifying for the finals. In the 1997 World's Strongest Man contest, Karlsen qualified for his first of 7 consecutive finals from 1997, 1999-2004 (did not compete in 1998). After finishing second in the Húsafell Stone carry, Karlsen was leading the finals on points, but during the warm-up for the squat event, he tore his
hamstring and had to withdraw from the rest of the contest. He won his first international podium at 1997 World Strongman Challenge.
In 1998 he emerged third at Atlantic Giant and IFSA Helsinki Grand Prix.
Karlsen returned to 1999 World's Strongest Man in Valletta, Malta, finishing in third place behind Jouko Ahola and Janne Virtanen. He managed to win the Super Yoke and final medley and emerged second at deadlift. The following year he promoted himself to second place in 2000 World's Strongest Man held in Sun City, South Africa behind Janne Virtanen. He won Super Yoke, Fingal's Fingers and Atlas Stones and was consistent across all the events. Karlsen finally became victorious at the 2001 World's Strongest Man competition in Victoria Falls, Zambia defeating his good friend Magnus Samuelsson and Janne Virtanen, becoming the thirteenth man to win the title. He won the squat and came second in carry & flip, vertical lift and came third in the Conan's Wheel before iconically celebrating by jumping into a swimming pool.
Some of Karlsen's other notable strongman titles include Europe's Strongest Man 2001, 3 time runner-up at the Arnold Strongman Classic 2002–04, World Muscle Power Championships 2001 winner, and 3 time Norway's Strongest Man in 2003, 2005 and 2006. Karlsen was the second athlete inducted into the World's Strongest Man Hall of Fame in 2010 as voted by the fans.
He has a larger than life personality and, similar to his Nordic strongman predecessor Jón Páll Sigmarsson, is known for his catchphrase "Viking Power". Karlsen was featured in the 2003 documentary 'The World's Strongest Arms',[ World's Strongest Arms. DVD. Colin Bryce production.] together with his good friend and fellow World's Strongest Man champion Magnus Samuelsson where they performed world class feats of strength.
Among his best lifts in his early years were a 400 kg squat, 260 kg bench press and a 412.5 kg deadlift. In an interview in 1997, he claimed his most notable feat of strength was deadlifting 400 kg for 3 repetitions.
Personal records
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Deadlift –
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Raw Deadlift – x 3 reps
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Raw Squat –
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Squat (tyres on machine) – x 14 reps (2002 World's Strongest Man)
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X-Treme Squat – (2003 X-Treme Strongman Championships) (World Record)
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Bench Press –
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Log Press – (2002 Sweden Grand Prix)
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Leviathan Press (incline log press) – x 14 reps (2002 IFSA Finland Grand Prix) (Joint-World Record)
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Axle Press – (2002 Sweden Grand Prix)
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Axle Press (for reps) – x 15 reps (2000 Beauty and the Beast Strongman Challenge) (Joint-World Record)
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Flintstone Press – (1996 World's Strongest Man - Group 4)
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Lifting stone – 5 stones weighing on distant platforms (no tacky) in 30.70 seconds (2000 World's Strongest Man) (World Record)
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Lifting stone – (5 stones) in 18.74 seconds (2005 IFSA Nordic Championships)
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Húsafell Stone – (87.5% of the original) for 86.66 metres (1997 World's Strongest Man)
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Keg-tossing – over (2000 Beauty and the Beast)
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Front hold – for 69.66 seconds (2000 IFSA Grand Prix Ireland)
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Crucifix hold – for 63.26 seconds (2001 Europe's Strongest Man)
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Farmer's walk – in each hand (70 meter course) in 22.87 seconds (2003 Finland Grand Prix)
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Wheelbarrow carry – for 30 metres in 19.72 s (2003 Finland Grand Prix)
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Conan's wheel (Basque circle) – 480° rotation (2002 World Muscle Power Classic) (World Record)
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Tyre flip – x 5 flips in 24.20 seconds (2004 Strongman Super Series Sweden Grand Prix) (World Record)
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Tyre flip – x 8 flips in 26.84 seconds (2005 Norway's Strongest Man) (World Record)
Retirement
Karlsen retired from competition in 2006, and began serving as presenter and producer of the
Norway version of the World's Strongest Man contest and the qualifying tour
Giants Live.
After retirement
Karlsen is the event organizer for the Norway's Strongest Man competition, introducing events and commentating. Karlsen was a co-commentator for the final event at the 2010 Arnold Strongman Classic. Karlsen also ran the Viking Power Challenge event in Norway, which was a part of the
Super Series and later
Giants Live tour for qualification into the World's Strongest Man competition.
Other competitions
External links
