Jouko Ahola

Jouko Ahola was born in Hämeenlinna and made his name first as a strongman and powerlifter before moving into film. He began at the 1994 European Hercules, then won the 1995 World Strongman Challenge in Russia and the 1995 Europe's Strongest Man. Ahola took his first World's Strongest Man title in 1997 in Nevada, was runner-up to Magnus Samuelsson in 1998, and won again in 1999. He also set records in stone lifting and the Hercules hold. In films, he played the early twentieth-century strongman Zishe Breitbart in Werner Herzog's Invincible (2001). He appeared in Kingdom of Heaven (2005), took the part of a former world wrestling champion in Bad Day to Go Fishing (2009), which premiered at Cannes, and was in War of the Dead (2011). Ahola also appeared in the History Channel series Vikings in 2013 and has been involved in judging and organizing the World's Strongest Man contest.