Juha-Matti Räsänen (born May 19, 1974) is a strongman

Strongman (strength athlete)

In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or circus performers of similar ilk who displayed feats of strength such as the bent press , supporting large amounts of...

 competitor from Kuopio

Kuopio

Kuopio is a city and a municipality located in the region of Northern Savonia, Finland. A population of makes it the ninth biggest city in the country. The city has a total area of , of which is water and half forest...

, 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...

. Juha began training for strongman in 1995, began competing as an amateur in 1996 and turned professional in 2000. Juha competed in the 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...

 and 2002 World's Strongest Man

2002 World's Strongest Man

The 2002 World's Strongest Man was the 25th edition of World's Strongest Man and was won by Mariusz Pudzianowski from Poland. Zydrunas Savickas from Lithuania finished second, and Raimonds Bergmanis from Latvia came in third. The contest was held in Kuala Lampur, Malaysia.-Heat 1:-Heat 2:-Heat...

 contests, finishing 9th and 6th respectively. Juha is a 2 time winner of Finland's Strongest Man

Finland's Strongest Man

Finland's Strongest Man is an annual strongman held every year in Finland since 1987. Jon Pall Sigmarsson, Bill Kazmaier and Hjalti Arnason were guests in the competition but their placings were not included in the final results...

 in 2002 & 2003, and is a 3 time runner-up. Juha holds the Guinness World Record for throwing a 60 kg man 5.40 meters (17ft 8in) in Spain

Spain

Spain , officially the Kingdom of Spain languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Spain's official name is as follows:;;;;;;), is a country and member state of the European Union located in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula...

in July 2006.