Vasyl Virastyuk

Vasyl Virastyuk
Born Василь Вірастюк
22 April 1974 (1974-04-22) (age 37)
Ivano-Frankivsk Ukraine
Residence Ukraine
Occupation Strongman
Height 1.91 m (6 ft 3 in)[1]
Weight 145 kilograms (320 lb)[1]
Competition record
Strongman
Competitor for  Ukraine
World's Strongest Man
3rd 2003 World's Strongest Man
1st 2004 World's Strongest Man
World Muscle Power Championships
2nd 2004
Arnold Strongman Classic
2nd 2005
2nd 2006
2nd 2007
10th 2008
IFSA Strongman World Championships
2nd 2005
3rd 2006
1st 2007

Vasyl Virastyuk (Ukrainian: Василь Вірастюк, born 22 April 1974 in Ivano-Frankivsk), is a strongman competitor from Ukraine.

Vasyl Virastyuk competed in the finals of the World's Strongest Man contest in 2003 and 2004. He finished third in 2003 behind then-defending champion Mariusz Pudzianowski and runner-up Zydrunas Savickas.[2] The following year Virastyuk won the 2004 World's Strongest Man title, placing ahead of Savickas and Pudzianowski (Pudzianowski would later be disqualified for testing positive for a banned substance).[2]

After this victory there was a split in the world of Strongman competition. While some of the competitors such as Virastyuk and Zydrunas Savickas started competing for the IFSA Strongman title (with Savickas winning the title in 2005 and 2006), others such as Pudzianowski remained and competed for the Met-Rx World's Strongest Man title (with Pudzianowski winning in 2005, 2007, and 2008 Phil Pfister in 2006).

After finishing 2nd in 2005 and third in 2006, at the 2007 IFSA World Championship in Geumsan, South Korea, Vasyl defeated the 2 time IFSA World Champion Zydrunas Savickas. With this victory Vasyl become the first athlete in the history of strongman to win both a World's Strongest Man title and an IFSA World title. Zydrunas would be the second to accomplish this feat after winning the 2009 World's Strongest Man title in Malta.[3]

Virastyuk has also achieved a podium finish on three occasions in three consecutive years (2005, 2006 and 2007) at the Arnold Strongman Classic coming second on each occasion to Zydrunas Savickas. At the 2008 Arnold Strongman Classic, Vasyl was forced to withdraw due to injuries, and finished in tenth place with only 8.5 points.[4]

Honours

References

  1. ^ a b "Vasyl Virastyuk at theworldsstrongestman.com". Archived from the original on 2007-09-16. http://web.archive.org/web/20070916160433/http://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/wsm/strong_man/virastyuk.html. Retrieved 2010-01-23. 
  2. ^ a b "theworldsstrongestman.com WSM history". Archived from the original on 2008-01-22. http://web.archive.org/web/20080122012127/http://www.theworldsstrongestman.com/wsm/history/history.html. Retrieved 2010-01-23. 
  3. ^ IFSA World Championships 2006 – Reykjavik, Iceland – Page 3 – Physical Advancement. Marunde-muscle.com. Retrieved on 2011-03-19.
  4. ^ 2011 Final Results, The Arnold Strongman Classic
World's Strongest Man
Preceded by:
Mariusz Pudzianowski		 First (2004) Succeeded by:
Mariusz Pudzianowski

1977–1978: Bruce Wilhelm · 1979: Don Reinhoudt · 1980–1982: Bill Kazmaier · 1983: Geoff Capes · 1984: Jón Páll Sigmarsson · 1985: Geoff Capes · 1986: Jón Páll Sigmarsson · 1988: Jón Páll Sigmarsson · 1989: Jamie Reeves · 1990: Jón Páll Sigmarsson · 1991: Magnús Ver Magnússon · 1992: Ted van der Parre · 1993: Gary Taylor · 1994–1996: Magnús Ver Magnússon · 1997: Jouko Ahola · 1998: Magnus Samuelsson · 1999: Jouko Ahola · 2000: Janne Virtanen · 2001: Svend Karlsen · 2002–2003: Mariusz Pudzianowski · 2004: Vasyl Virastyuk · 2005: Mariusz Pudzianowski · 2006: Phil Pfister · 2007–2008: Mariusz Pudzianowski · 2009–2010: Žydrūnas Savickas