Sweden's Strongest Man of 2002

Sweden's Strongest Man of 2002
FINAL RESULTS
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1. Torbjörn Samuelsson - 40 points
2. Anders Johansson - 34,5 points
3. Jorma Paananen - 34 points
4. Benny Wennberg - 30 points
5. Klas Gustavsson - 23,5 points
6. Håkan Petschler - 18,5 points
7. Morgan Apell - 18,5 points
8. Magnus Apell - 16,5 points

Torbjörn Samuelsson once again joins his brother Magnus to WSM. It never got that tight as I thought it would. I was right about the top three men but Benny would have taken one of those places if he wouldn't have been that unlucky with his stomach and the last event.

If Tobbe gets into a reasonable qualifying group with events that suits him in WSM I think he got a good chance to qualify to the final. Tobbe is good at many events and has just a few weak spots as long as the weights are not that heavy. The weakest is of course the deadlift. When it comes to international competitions I still think Anders is stronger than Tobbe and would have had a greater chance to reach the final in WSM but then also the qualifying events must exclude for example Arm over arm.

I agree with many of the competitors that there were too many running and stamina events in this years SSM, almost looked like a fitness competition sometimes. (hm, it always has in SSM). I would prefer more events for max weight. Deadlift for max or squat for max should be one of the final events for next year.

In this years final we saw 4 events for time and 2 for reps, "none" for max weight.

Here's some more pictures from SSM 2002 that didn't fit in anywhere else.

Magnus was a referee and sure enjoyed that his brother took the title.	Tobbe just won.	..but he doesn't look that happy, does he? :-)
Ilka Kinnunen, mainreferee as usual.	Anders Axklo got the crowd into the competition.	From the TV3 staff, Suzanne Sjögren.
Håkan with his newest prospect, Gustav.	..and Magnus with his little son, David.	...and this time with my own son Baldur Teodor.
Proud Kristin with David.	Håkan, playin' with the weights.	Benny "Not feeling very well, but strong as hell anyway" Wennberg.
The day of the final had a good and excited crowd.	The Crew.	Baldur Teodor enjoys SSM.
Between events.	Some back! This is power.	Janne, Benny and Håkan.
Apell Power.	Håkan, Jörgen and Kalle.	Take that!! Håkan just conquered the crossbike and throwing spells at it.
Blood running down Anders forehead.	Big Jorma prepering for an event.

One last comment about this years SSM must be that the Swedish strongmen are getting better for every year. The finns are not that superior anymore.... or are they? :-)