Beauty and the Beast (strongman competition)

Beauty and the Beast

The official logo of Beauty and the Beast 2001
Location	Hawaii
Established	1998
Final year	2003
Format	Multi-event competition
Mariusz Pudzianowski

The Beauty and The Beast Strongman Challenge, also known as the Beauty and The Beast World Strongman Challenge was a short-lived annual strongman competition that was notable for the calibre of the entrants it attracted, as well as for the reputation it attained in a short amount of time.

The Beauty and The Beast Strongman Challenge was organised and promoted by strongman competitor Odd Haugen from 1998. It was initially promoted on the IFSA circuit as the North American open championship and from its inception took place in Honolulu, Hawaii. In its first year it was dominated by the USA, with the winner being Mark Philippi, a successful athlete in other major tournaments such as World Muscle Power Classic.

By 1999 the promoter and competitor, Odd Haugen had enticed many more international competitors including 1998 World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Samuelsson and 1997 World's Strongest Man winner Jouko Ahola. The previous year had been the final year of the original format World Strongman Challenge, and so Haugen appended this prestigious events title to the end of Beauty and The Beast, thus conituing the tradition of one of strength athletics more enduring brands. Ahola tested some of the events for Haugen and gave his approval by stating "This is like a Finnish competition, heavy. I like that." With such pedigree the competition did draw on June 5 and 6, the top American competitors, as well as some of the biggest names on the international strongman circuit. It was called the "24 Hour Fitness" "Beauty & the Beast" strongman competition and featured on ESPN's "American Muscle Magazine". The IFSA combined an IFSA Grand Prix and the IFSA American Championships into this event. The promoter, Odd Haugen, placed third in the IFSA American Championships section of the competition, although no USA athlete made the Grand Prix podium.

2000 again attracted international strongmen who again dominated the standings, with Janne Virtanen winning the event. These championships were also notable for introducing the Rolling Thunder World Championships, seen as the event that determines the athlete with the greatest grip strength on the planet. In 2000 this was a kickoff event in a Honolulu sports bar the night before the strongman competition began. Those that entered included the four-time World's Strongest Man winner Magnus Ver Magnusson.