Mariusz_Pudzianowski

Mariusz Pudzianowski

Mariusz Pudzianowski (born on February 7, 1977 in Biała Rawska, Poland) is a leading strongman competitor. He is sometimes known by the nicknames Pudzian, Dominator, Super Mariusz (Super Mario), Pyton (Python) and Duży Pyton (Big Python).

Strongman career

Mariusz began training for strength sports at age 13½, in December, 1990. Mariusz cites his key strength supplement as malted milk. "I met a kid, he was 12 years old," he said in an interview. "I could not lift him, then he tried to, and he lifted me up 6 inches in the air. He was strong. This motivated me to work out and become the world's strongest man."

On May 1, 1999 Mariusz entered his first Strongman competition, which was held in Płock, Poland. He achieved his first major success at the international level in 2000 when he finished fourth in his first World's Strongest Man competition. He returned to win the WSM contest in 2002, and retained his title in 2003 by the largest margin ever achieved in the competition. In March, 2004 he also became the Strongman Super Series World Champion. He initially finished third in the WSM contest in 2004, but was later disqualified in questionable circumstances (supposedly after being tested positive for using cocain). He was forced to return his prize money, stripped of the International Federation of Strength Athletes points from the event, and received a one-year ban from competition. Pudzianowski did not dispute his banned substance violation and waived his right to have his stool sample verified. He then returned to win the title for a third time in 2005.

In the 2006 World's Strongest Man contest, he came second to the American Phil Pfister, the first American to win the championship since Bill Kazmaier in 1982. Pudzianowski had led for most of the competition, however Pfister won the last five events to narrowly clinch the title. In the final event, the Atlas Stones, the two went head-to-head; Pfister managed all five, whilst Mariusz failed to complete the final stone.

Pudzianowski regained his title in 2007, winning with one event to spare (which he had also done in 2003 and 2005). He joins Jón Páll Sigmarsson and Magnús Ver Magnússon as the only four-time winners. In the WSM 2007 competition he said that his target is to win once more to become the only person to win the event 5 times, and he achieved to do so, winning the WSM 2008 competition in the very last event ahead of Derek Poundstone and several Americans, that stood a very strong competition. He succeeded despite having a renewed serious calf injury from which he suffered in the Polish Strongman Championship Cup of 2008, that have seriously affected his start in WSM 2008 even at the stage of qualifiers. This way he is known as the only man to be the World's Strongest Man five times.

Apart from WSM Mariusz is also known for practicing martial arts (he is a fourth kyu green belt in Kyokushin kaikan). Moreover he was a professional boxer for 7 years before he started to compete in strongman competitions.

Personal bests

Measurements

Biceps -
Neck -
Waist -
Thigh -
Chest -
Forearm -
BMI - 43.8

Achievements

Professional Competitive Record - [1st (42),2nd (7) ,3rd (4) - Out of Total(59)]
Performance Metric - .964 [Polish - .995 International - .953]

Professional	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	5th	6th	10th	Total
Polish	15	1						16
International	27	6	4	2	2	1	1	43
Combined	42	7	4	2	2	1	1	59

COMPLETED CONTESTS

World's Strongest Man - Charleston, West Virginia, USA - winner (9/6-14/2008)
World Strongman Federation Grand Prix - Belarus - Silichy, Belarus - winner (8/3/2008)
Poland Cup - Poland - winner (8/2/2008)
World Strongman Federation Grand Prix - Russia (Globe's Strongest Man) - Russia - winner (2008)
Poland vs. The World - Poland - winner (2008)
Mohegan Sun Super Series - Uncasville, Connecticut, USA - 2nd place (1/19/2008)
World's Strongest Man - Anaheim, California, USA - winner (2007)
Svend Karlsens Viking Power Super Series Grand Prix - Norway - winner (2007)
Venice Beach Super Series Grand Prix - Venice Beach, California, USA - 2nd place (2007)
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix - Uncasville, Connecticut, USA - winner (2007)
European Championship - Poland - winner (2007)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - England - winner (2007)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - Latvia - winner (2007)
World's Strongest Man - Sanya, China - 2nd place (2006)
Poland Super Series Grand Prix - Poland - winner (2006)
Moscow Super Series Grand Prix - Moscow, Russia - winner (2006)
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix - Uncasville, Connecticut, USA - winner (2006)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - Russia - winner (2006)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - Poland - winner (2006)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - Latvia - winner (2006)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - Belarus - winner (2006)
Arnold's Strongest Man - Columbus, Ohio, USA - 6th place (2005)
World's Strongest Man - Chengdu, China - winner (2005)
Poland vs. The World - Poland - winner (2005)
Mohegan Sun Super Series Grand Prix - Uncasville, Connecticut, USA - winner (2005)
Sweden Super Series Grand Prix - Sweden - winner (2005)
Poland Super Series Grand Prix - Poland - winner (2005)
Venice Beach Super Series Grand Prix - Venice Beach, California, USA - winner (2005)
World Strongman Cup Grand Prix - Austria - winner (2005)
Arnold's Strongest Man - Columbus, Ohio, USA - 4th place (2004)
World's Strongest Man - Nassau, Paradise Island, The Bahamas - disqualified {originally 3rd place} (2004)
European Championship - Jelenia Gora, Poland - winner (2004)
World Team Championship - Plock, Poland - winner (2004)
Moscow Super Series Grand Prix - Moscow, Russia - winner (2004)
Polish Cup - Poland - winner (2004)
World's Strongest Man - Victoria Falls, Zambia - winner (2003)
European Championship - Sandomierz, Poland - winner (2003)
World Team Championship - Hungary - winner (2003)
Ylitornio Challenge - Finland - winner (2003)
World Record Breakers - Gdynia, Poland - winner (2003)
Polish Cup - Poland - winner (2003)
Arnold's Strongest Man - Columbus, Ohio, USA - 5th place (2003)
Finland Super Series Grand Prix - Finland - 2nd place (2003)
Canada Super Series Grand Prix - Canada - 2nd place (2003)
Holland Super Series Grand Prix - Holland - winner (2003)
Hawaii Super Series Grand Prix - Hawaii, USA - winner (2003)
World's Strongest Man - Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia - winner (2002)
Hawaii Super Series Grand Prix - Hawaii, USA - 3rd place (2002)
Sweden Super Series Grand Prix - Sweden - 5th place (2002)
European Championship - Gdynia, Poland - winner (2002)
Polish Cup - Poland - 2nd place (2002)
World Team Championship - Hungary - 3rd place (2002)
World's Giants - Ireland - winner (2002)
World's Strongest Man - Sun City, South Africa - 4th place (2000)
Helsinki Grand Prix - Finland - 10th place (2000)
World Team Championship - Hungary - 2nd place (2000)
World Cup Grand Prix - Poland - winner (2000)
World Team Championship - China - 3rd place (1999)
Polish Cup - Poland - winner (1999)

World's Strongest Man

Wins (5)

Year	Opponent in Final
2002	Antanas Martinkus
2003	Zydrunas Savickas
2005	Jesse Marunde
2007	Sebastian Wenta
2008	Derek Poundstone

Runner-up (1)

Year	Opponent in Final
2006	Phil Pfister

Musical career

In 2005, Mariusz formed a musical group called Pudzian Band, with himself as a singer. In 2006 the Pudzian band toured for the first time, and they recorded the song Zdobyć świat ("To Conquer the World"). The other members of the group are Krystian Pudzianowski (Mariusz's brother), Anna Brzozowska and Ross Tweedy on tambourine.

External links

World's Strongest Man
Preceded by: Svend Karlsen	First (2002)	Succeeded by: Himself
Preceded by: Himself	Second (2003)	Succeeded by: Vasyl Virastyuk
Preceded by: Vasyl Virastyuk	Third (2005)	Succeeded by: Phil Pfister
Preceded by: Phil Pfister	Fourth (2007)	Succeeded by: Himself
Preceded by: Himself	Fifth (2008)	Succeeded by: Incumbent