[1] Keen to exact revenge for losing his title the previous year, Mariusz Pudzianowski dominated the opening event, the Loading Race, finishing over 6 seconds faster than anyone else and a full 10 seconds in front of defending champion Phil Pfister.

Estonian Tarmo Mitt, appearing in his third consecutive final, was forced to withdraw from the competition after tearing his bicep whilst trying to lift the first barrel onto the platform.

After finishing second and third respectively in the first event, Terry Hollands and Dave Ostlund both found the following event, the Safe Lift, far more challenging; struggling with the apparent lack of balance in the equipment as well as the strong winds, Hollands could only manage 3 successful lifts whilst Ostlund could only manage 1.

Many thought that this strong performance would enable Pfister to close the gap to Pudzianowski, for whom the Fingals Fingers had always seemed to prove to be a 'bogey' event in previous years.

Elsewhere, Kevin Nee and Mark Felix both fell even further behind the rest of the competition, being the only two athletes to fail to flip all five fingers.

The sixth event of the final, the Car Walk, saw solid performances from several athletes, with 5 of the first 8 competitors completing the course in under 25 seconds.