Janne Virtanen (born 16 November 1969) is a strongman

Strength athlete

A strength athlete is a person who trains for or competes in events in which muscular strength and power play a primary role. Such events include weightlifting and powerlifting, strength athletics and strongman competitions, and arm wrestling, as well as the "heavy throws" of track and field:...

 from Espoo

Espoo

Espoo is the second largest city and municipality in Finland. The population of the city of Espoo is . It is part of the Helsinki Metropolitan Area along with the cities of Helsinki, Vantaa, and Kauniainen. Espoo shares its eastern border with Helsinki and Vantaa, while enclosing Kauniainen....

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

. Janne earns his living as a carpenter in Finland.

Virtanen was the World's Strongest Man

World's Strongest Man

The World's Strongest Man is a well recognised event in strength athletics and has been described by a number of highly respected authorities in the sport as the premier event in strongman. Organized by TWI, an IMG Media company, it is broadcast around the end of December each year...

 champion in 2000

2000 World's Strongest Man

The 2000 World's Strongest Man was the 23rd edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Janne Virtanen from Finland. It was his first title after finishing second the previous year. Svend Karlsen from Norway finished second after finishing third the previous year, and 1998 winner Magnus...

. He was runner-up in 1999

1999 World's Strongest Man

The 1999 World's Strongest Man was the 22nd edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Jouko Ahola from Finland. It was his second title after finishing second the previous year. Janne Virtanen also from Finland finished second, and Svend Karlsen from Norway finished third. The contest was...

, and finished third in 2001

2001 World's Strongest Man

The 2001 World's Strongest Man was the 24th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Svend Karlsen from Norway. It was his first title after finishing second the previous year. 1998 winner Magnus Samuelsson from Sweden finished second after finishing third the previous year, and 2000 winner...

. His other championships include 4 time Finland's Strongest Man (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001), Beauty and the Beast

World Muscle Power Classic

The World Muscle Power Classic was one of the most enduring annual strongmen competitions, running for twenty years and in that time attaining the position of the second most prestigious strongman contest in the world, after the World's Strongest Man...

 (2000), Helsinki Grand Prix (2000), and the Turkey Grand Prix in 2002 in Istanbul

Istanbul

Istanbul , historically known as Byzantium and Constantinople , is the largest city of Turkey. Istanbul metropolitan province had 13.26 million people living in it as of December, 2010, which is 18% of Turkey's population and the 3rd largest metropolitan area in Europe after London and...

. Following his second consecutive failure to reach the final of the World's Strongest Man

World's Strongest Man

The World's Strongest Man is a well recognised event in strength athletics and has been described by a number of highly respected authorities in the sport as the premier event in strongman. Organized by TWI, an IMG Media company, it is broadcast around the end of December each year...

in 2007, he announced his retirement but entered into the 3rd qualifying heat of the competition in 2008.