The 2020 World's Strongest Man was the 43rd edition of the World's Strongest Man competition. It took place in Bradenton, Florida between November 11 and 15. Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine won the competition for the first time in his career, with Tom Stoltman of Great Britain taking second and Jean-François Caron of Canada taking third. At 24 years old, Novikov is the youngest man to win the event since Jón Páll Sigmarsson in 1984.
Scheduling and participants The event was originally scheduled to take place May 20 to 24 in Bradenton, Florida, but was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The actual event itself also experienced scheduling issues because of Hurricane Eta.
Defending champion Martins Licis and two-time runner up Mateusz Kieliszkowski did not take part this year due to injury. 2018 champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson also did not take part after announcing his retirement earlier in the year.
Participants
Heat Results Format There are five competitors per group. After four events, the competitor with the highest score qualifies for the final. The competitors in second and third place take part in the Stone Off, a run of loading 8 Atlas Stones, with the winner progressing.
Heat 1 Events: Farmer's Walk, Deadlift for repetitions, Loading Race, Log Lift for repetitions. # Name Nationality Pts 1 Jerry Pritchett 17 2 Luke Richardson 15 3 Robert Oberst 11 4 Pa O'Dwyer 9 5 Gabriel Peña 6
Stone Off Name Nationality Time Luke Richardson 5 in 0m 47.56 Robert Oberst 4 in 1m 03.70
Heat 2 Events: Farmer's Walk, Deadlift for repetitions, Loading Race, Dumbbell Press Medley. # Name Nationality Pts 1 Kevin Faires 14 2 Mikhail Shivlyakov 13 3 Evan Singleton 13 4 Adam Bishop 11 5 Mark Felix 9
Stone Off Name Nationality Time Adam Bishop 6 in 0m 53.04 Mikhail Shivlyakov 5 in 0m 34.19
Heat 3 Events: Farmer's Walk, Squat Lift for repetitions, Loading Race, Dumbbell Press Medley. # Name Nationality Pts 1 Oleksii Novikov 17 2 Tom Stoltman 15 3 Maxime Boudreault 13 4 Trey Mitchell 10 5 Gavin Bilton 4
Stone Off Name Nationality Time Tom Stoltman 8 in 0m 39.00 Maxime Boudreault 7 in 0m 38.30
Heat 4 Events: Farmer's Walk, Squat Lift for repetitions, Loading Race, Log Lift for repetitions. # Name Nationality Pts 1 Jean-François Caron 16.5 2 Bobby Thompson 14.5 3 Graham Hicks 12 4 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð 11 5 Ervin Toots 3
Stone Off Name Nationality Time Graham Hicks 6 in 0m 50.34 Bobby Thompson 5 in 1m 15.09
Heat 5 Events: Farmer's Walk, Deadlift for repetitions, Loading Race, Dumbbell Press Medley. # Name Nationality Pts 1 Brian Shaw 15.5 2 Terry Hollands 14.5 3 Aivars Šmaukstelis 13.5 4 Luke Stoltman 11.55 Nick Best 4
Stone Off Name Nationality Time Aivars Šmaukstelis 7 in 0m 39.57 Terry Hollands 6 in 0m 33.43
Finals Events Results Event 1: Giant's Medley Weight: anvil, yoke Course Length: anvil, yoke Time Limit: 75 seconds # Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts 1Adam Bishop 0m 22.55 10 10 2Oleksii Novikov 0m 23.79 9 9 3Jerry Pritchett 0m 24.71 8 8 4Kevin Faires 0m 26.22 7 7 5Tom Stoltman 0m 26.61 6 6 6Jean-François Caron 0m 26.92 5 5 7Brian Shaw 0m 27.03 4 4 8Aivars Šmaukstelis 0m 34.97 3 3 9Luke Richardson 0m 36.70 2 2 10 Graham Hicks DNF 1 1
Event 2: Max Deadlift 18-Inch Deadlift For Max Weight Opening Weight:
# Name Nationality Weight Event Pts Overall Pts 1 Oleksii Novikov 10 19 2 Adam Bishop 8 18 2 Jerry Pritchett 8 16 2 Jean-François Caron 8 13 5 Tom Stoltman 5.5 11.5 5 Brian Shaw 5.5 9.5 7 Kevin Faires 4 11 8 Aivars Šmaukstelis 2.5 5.5 8 Luke Richardson 2.5 4.5
Event 3: Keg Toss Weight: 8 kegs ranging from Height: Time Limit: 60 seconds # Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts 1 Tom Stoltman 8 in 0m 20.05 10 21.5 2 Jean-François Caron 8 in 0m 20.37 9 22 3 Brian Shaw 8 in 0m 21.75 8 17.5 4 Aivars Šmaukstelis 8 in 0m 24.88 7 12.5 5 Oleksii Novikov 8 in 0m 26.96 6 25 6 Luke Richardson 8 in 0m 27.82 5 9.5 7 Adam Bishop 8 in 0m 39.90 4 22 8 Jerry Pritchett 7 in 0m 39.94 3 19 9 Kevin Faires 6 in 0m 19.04 2 13
Event 4: Hercules Hold Weight: on each hand for as long as possible # Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts 1 Jean-François Caron 0m 52.67 10 32 2 Kevin Faires 0m 49.22 9 22 3 Jerry Pritchett 0m 42.99 8 27 4 Oleksii Novikov 0m 41.63 7 32 5 Luke Richardson 0m 35.12 6 15.5 6 Brian Shaw 0m 34.79 5 22.5 7 Adam Bishop 0m 28.40 4 26 8 Aivars Šmaukstelis 0m 28.17 3 15.5 9 Tom Stoltman 0m 21.23 2 23.5
Event 5: Log Ladder Weight: 5 logs ranging from Time Limit: 75 seconds # Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts 1 Tom Stoltman 5 in 0m 49.45 10 33.5 2 Jerry Pritchett 5 in 0m 51.18 9 36 3 Oleksii Novikov 4 in 0m 32.68 8 40 4 Aivars Šmaukstelis 4 in 0m 41.24 7 22.5 5 Kevin Faires 4 in 0m 46.67 6 28 6 Luke Richardson 4 in 1m 02.12 5 20.5 7 Brian Shaw 3 in 0m 27.91 4 26.5 8 Adam Bishop 3 in 0m 37.02 3 29 9 Jean-François Caron 3 in 0m 47.05 2 34
Event 6: Atlas Stones Weight: 5 stones ranging from Time Limit: 60 seconds Total Weight: # Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts 1 Tom Stoltman 5 in 0m 19.89 10 43.5 2 Brian Shaw 5 in 0m 28.55 9 35.5 3 Jean-François Caron 5 in 0m 34.03 8 42 4 Oleksii Novikov 4 in 0m 19.47 7 47 5 Aivars Šmaukstelis 4 in 0m 20.63 6 28.5 6 Adam Bishop 4 in 0m 24.30 5 34 7 Jerry Pritchett 4 in 0m 24.53 4 40 8 Kevin Faires 4 in 0m 24.73 3 31 9 Luke Richardson 3 in 0m 18.02 2 22.5
Records As part of the deadlift event, Novikov successfully performed a 18-inch deadlift, "which bested the previous world record at a sanctioned event in 1983, according to a news release."
Mark Felix, by invitation, attempted to set a World's Strongest Man record in the Hercules Hold, but did not succeed.
Brian Shaw qualified for a record equalling 12th WSM final, tying the record of Zydrunas Savickas. With all of these finals being consecutive, he also broke his own record for consecutive finals. This was also Shaw's 11th top 5 finish, another record.
Mark Felix appeared in his 15th WSM contest, breaking the record of 14 held by himself and Savickas. Terry Hollands also appeared in his 14th contest.
Final standings # Name Nationality Pts Oleksii Novikov Ukraine 47 Tom Stoltman United Kingdom 43.5 Jean-François Caron Canada 42 4 Jerry Pritchett United States 40 5 Brian Shaw United States 35.5 6 Adam Bishop United Kingdom 34 7 Kevin Faires United States 31 8 Aivars Šmaukstelis Latvia 28.5 9 Luke Richardson United Kingdom 22.5 10 Graham Hicks United Kingdom 1 (injured)
References
External links The World's Strongest Man official website