Andrus Murumets at the Arnold Strongman Classic
On March 3, 2007, Andrus Murumets traveled to Columbus and came home from the Arnold Strongman Classic with third place. The Estonian strongman finished among the very best in the world, earning 15,000 dollars in prize money. A podium finish at a competition like this is no accident — it is the culmination of an entire career.
Andrus Murumets’s road to Columbus
The Arnold Strongman Classic is an invitational competition held every March in Columbus, Ohio. It is part of the Arnold Sports Festival — a multisport expo launched by Arnold Schwarzenegger himself.
Around ten men make it to the Classic. Qualification is based on results across the entire previous season. One strong performance at a competition is not enough — you need to be consistently among the world’s best. The fact that an Estonian was invited speaks volumes in itself.
By 2007, Murumets had already been the face of Estonian strength sports for years — a multiple winner of Estonia’s Strongest Man and a regular competitor at World’s Strongest Man. With that record behind him, his place at the Classic was well earned.
Arnold Strongman Classic 2007: the events
The Classic’s events are chosen to favor raw strength over speed. In 2007, competitors took on six events:
- Timber Lift — lifting a long log overhead
- Apollon’s Wheels — lifting an axle bar from the floor to overhead
- Tire Deadlift — deadlifting an immensely heavy tire
- Manhood Stones — lifting Atlas-style stones onto a platform
- The Yoke — carrying a weighted frame
- Circus Dumbbell Lift — a one-arm overhead press with a thick-handled dumbbell
None of these events leaves room for a lucky break. You cannot outsmart an axle bar with technical tricks. Atlas stones weigh more than most adult men could lift even after years of training. The yoke is not running in the usual sense — it tests whether you can even take that first step.
Andrus Murumets in the standings
The final standings at the 2007 Arnold Strongman Classic:
- Žydrūnas Savickas (Lithuania) — 30,000 $
- Vasyl Virastyuk (Ukraine) — 20,000 $
- Andrus Murumets (Estonia) — 15,000 $
- Phil Pfister (USA) — 10,000 $
- Oleksandr Pekanov (Ukraine) and Mikhail Koklyaev (Russia) — 7000 $ (tied for 5th–6th place)
- Brian Siders (USA) — 4000 $
- Steve MacDonald (USA) — 3000 $
- Karl Gillingham (USA) — 2000 $
- Travis Ortmayer (USA) — 1000 $
The men on the higher steps of the podium were legends of their era. Savickas — a multiple winner of WSM and the Arnold Classic. Virastyuk — the 2004 World’s Strongest Man champion. Murumets also finished ahead of America’s strongest man, Phil Pfister, who had brought the WSM title back to America the previous year.
Andrus Murumets’s place in Estonian strength sports
Murumets’s career deserves a chapter of its own in Estonian sporting history. A repeated winner of Estonia’s Strongest Man and a regular in the World’s Strongest Man finals, he brought strength sports to the average Estonian’s television screen when they were still a relatively niche pursuit here.
His third-place finish in Columbus was neither the first highlight of his career nor the last. But it made one thing clear: the Estonian had every right to stand alongside the established legends from the USA, Lithuania and Ukraine. He competed on equal terms — often outperforming many of those who received more media attention.
It is worth remembering how small the Estonian strength sports scene was in the early 2000s. You could count on one hand the gyms that even had bars with thick enough handles or Atlas stones. For men like Murumets, reaching the top often meant making the most of the facilities available locally, then traveling abroad to test themselves against the truly heavy iron.
Results like these take years of work. Ten workouts a week, hundreds of tonnes of iron lifted and extensive experience on the big stage. There are no shortcuts to any of it.
Frequently asked questions
What is the Arnold Strongman Classic?
An invitational competition held in March in Columbus, Ohio, featuring around ten of the world’s very best strongmen. It is part of the Arnold Sports Festival.
Where did Andrus Murumets finish in 2007?
Third, earning 15,000 dollars in prize money. Lithuania’s Žydrūnas Savickas took home gold, with silver going to Ukraine’s Vasyl Virastyuk.
Did Murumets compete at the Arnold Classic more than once?
Yes, he competed in Columbus across several seasons. His third-place finish in 2007 remains one of his best results there.
Author: Fitness.ee
Come and train! ArtGym
