The 2023 World's Strongest Man was the 46th World's Strongest Man competition which took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from 19 to 23 April. The contest was won by Mitchell Hooper of Barrie, Ontario making him the first Canadian champion. Defending champion Tom Stoltman placed second, and Oleksii Novikov placed third.
Participants
Originally, Pavlo Nakonechnyy of Ukraine and Cheick Sanou (Iron Biby) of Burkina Faso were set to compete in this competition, but both withdrew through injuries, being replaced by reserves Thomas Evans and Kristján Jón Haraldsson, respectively. 2022 runner-up and 2019 champion Martins Licis elected not to compete this year, taking a year out of competition, and Maxime Boudreault, a finalist in the previous two WSM contests, was forced to withdraw with an injury from earlier in the year.
This year's competition featured six rookies, with Thomas Evans, Kristján Jón Haraldsson, Fadi El Masri, Mathew Ragg, Spenser Remick and Jaco Schoonwinkel all making their first appearances at the competition. Ragg and Schoonwinkel went on to make the final in their first WSM competition, with Ragg becoming the first New Zealander to qualify for the final since 1983, before the introduction of the groups. El Masri became the first man to represent Lebanon at WSM.
Prior to the competition, both Mark Felix and four-time champion Brian Shaw announced that the 2023 WSM would be their final WSM contest. Felix would be eliminated in the group stage, and Shaw went on to make the final in his last WSM.
Rauno Heinla returned to WSM for the first time since 2011, ultimately taking 3rd place in his group. Two-time runner-up Mateusz Kieliszkowski made a much anticipated return to WSM for the first time since 2019, but went out in the group stage for the first time in his career.
Heat results Format The 30 athletes were divided into 5 groups of 6 athletes, with 2 athletes from each group progressing to the final of 10. The winner of each group progressed to the final, and 2nd and 3rd in each group would then advance to a 'Stone Off', from which the winner would also progress.
Events Loading Race: 5 implements. One-minute-15-second time limit. Deadlift Machine: 7 lifts ranging from , once the seventh lift is completed the final weight was lifted for max repetitions. One-minute-15-second time limit. Conan's Wheel: Log Ladder: 5 logs weighing , , , , . One-minute-15-second time limit. Kettlebell Toss: 7 kettlebells over a bar. Sixty-second time limit.
Heat 1 # Athlete Event 1Loading race Event 2Deadlift Event 3Log Ladder Event 4Conan's Wheel Event 5Kettlebell toss Pts 1 Pavlo Kordiyaka 1st – 5 in 41.38s 4th – 5 reps 2nd – 5 in 46.00s 1st – 742 ° 1st – 6 in 18.09s 25 2 Tom Stoltman 2nd – 5 in 43.84s 2nd – 6 reps 1st – 5 in 41.56s 6th – 598 ° 3rd – 6 in 21.99s 20.5 3 Bobby Thompson 3rd – 5 in 56.56s 1st – 7 reps 3rd – 4 in 25.83s 3rd – 649 ° 5th – 6 in 35.67s 20 4 Konstantine Janashia 4th – 5 in 1m 1.10s 2nd – 6 reps 5th – 4 in 1m 8.35s 4th – 633 ° 2nd – 6 in 19.93s 17.5 5 Pa O'Dwyer 5th – 5 in 1m 5.89s 4th – 5 reps 6th – 3 in 25.80s 2nd – 722 ° 4th – 6 in 31.71s 13 6 Eddie Williams 6th – 5 in 1m 6.44s 4th – 5 reps 4th – 4 in 55.89s 5th – 614 ° 6th – 6 in 36.40s 9
Stone Off Athlete Nation Stones Tom Stoltman 3 Bobby Thompson 3
Heat 2 # Athlete Event 1Loading race Event 2Deadlift Event 3Log Ladder Event 4Conan's Wheel Event 5Kettlebell toss Pts 1 Oleksii Novikov 1st – 5 in 52.15s 1st – 6 reps 3rd – 4 in 32.50 s 1st – 897 ° 6th – 1 in 9.56s 23 2 Luke Stoltman 4th – 5 in 1m 2.78s 2nd – 5 reps 2nd – 5 in 52.76s 3rd – 545 ° 2nd – 6 in 49.35s 21 3 Gavin Bilton 5th – 5 in 1m 3.01s 2nd – 5 reps 4th – 4 in 56.84s 2nd – 557 ° 1st – 6 in 19.90s 20 4 Thomas Evans 3rd – 5 in 57.40 s 2nd – 5 reps 1st – 5 in 38.96s 6th – 69 ° 4th – 5 in 28.68s 18 5 Kristján Jón Haraldsson 2nd – 5 in 54.18 s 3rd – 4 reps 5th – 2 in 16.28s 4th – 524 ° 3rd – 5 in 15.57s 15.5 6 Fadi El Masri 6th – 4 in 49.57 s 3rd – 4 reps 6th – 2 in 17.43s 5th – 70 ° 5th – 4 in 20.61s 7.5
Stone Off Athlete Nation Stones Luke Stoltman 7 Gavin Bilton 7
Heat 3 # Athlete Event 1Loading race Event 2Deadlift Event 3Log Ladder Event 4Conan's Wheel Event 5Kettlebell toss Pts 1 Mitchell Hooper 1st – 5 in 42.05s 1st – 8 reps 1st – 5 in 39.51s 1st – 636 ° 2nd – 6 in 17.18s 29 2 Mathew Ragg 3rd – 5 in 58.72s 2nd – 7 reps 2nd – 5 in 56.84s 2nd – 628 ° 3rd – 6 in 21.96s 22.5 3 Aivars Šmaukstelis 2nd – 5 in 52.71s 4th – 5 reps 4th – 4 in 30.44s 3rd – 575 ° 4th – 6 in 25.41s 17.5 4 Mateusz Kieliszkowski 5th – 5 in 1m 7.53s 6th – 4 reps 5th – 4 in 33.24s 4th – 538 ° 1st – 7 in 32.44s 14 5 Graham Hicks 6th – 4 in 53.40s 2nd – 7 reps 3rd – 4 in 28.31s 6th – 425 ° 6th – 4 in 20.51s 11.5 6 Spenser Remick 4th – 5 in 1m 7.15s 4th – 5 reps 6th – 4 in 38.79s 5th – 470 ° 5th – 5 in 24.31s 10.5
Stone Off Athlete Nation Stones Mathew Ragg 8 Aivars Šmaukstelis 8
Heat 4 # Athlete Event 1Loading race Event 2Deadlift Event 3Log Ladder Event 4Conan's Wheel Event 5Kettlebell toss Pts 1 Jaco Schoonwinkel 1st – 5 in 47.10s 4th – 6 reps 2nd – 4 in 34.77s 1st – 713 ° 3rd – 6 in 47.32s 24 2 Brian Shaw 3rd 5 in 53.70s 1st – 8 reps 1st – 4 in 33.99s 5th – 411 ° 1st – 7 in 48.45s 23.5 3 Rauno Heinla 2nd – 5 in 51.41s 1st – 8 reps 3rd – 3 in 21.60s 3rd – 572 ° 5th – 5 in 44.51s 20.5 4 Adam Bishop 4th – 4 in 43.12s 3rd – 7 reps 6th – 3 in 33.25s 6th – 292 ° 2nd – 6 in 32.29s 14 5 Kevin Faires 6th – 3 in 1m 5.30s 5th – 5 reps 4th – 3 in 28.93s 2nd – 636 ° 4th – 5 in 34.09s 13.5 6 Gabriel Rhéaume 5th – 4 in 51.03s 5th – 5 reps 5th – 3 in 32.96s 4th – 476 ° 6th – 3 in 14.00s 9.5
Stone Off Athlete Nation Stones Brian Shaw 11 Rauno Heinla 11
Heat 5 # Athlete Event 1Loading race Event 2Deadlift Event 3Log Ladder Event 4Conan's Wheel Event 5Kettlebell toss Pts 1 Trey Mitchell 3rd – 5 in 1m 6.64s 1st – 8 reps 1st – 5 in 39.44s 3rd – 523 ° 1st – 7 in 34.42s 26 2 Evan Singleton 1st – 5 in 46.90s 2nd – 6 reps 2nd – 4 in 35.48s 2nd – 589 ° 3rd – 6 in 28.81s 24.5 3 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð 2nd – 5 in 56.41s 4th – 5 reps 3rd – 4 in 39.93s 1st – 629 ° 2nd – 6 in 27.66s 22.5 4 Mark Felix 5th – 4 in 54.32s 2nd – 6 reps 6th – 1 in 7.58s 5th – 470 ° 4th – 4 in 42.66s 12.5 5 Paul Smith 4th – 4 in 44.79s 6th – 4 reps 4th – 4 in 45.84s 4th – 518 ° 6th – 1 in 28.62s 11 6 Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf 6th – 3 in 40.63s 4th – 5 reps 5th – 3 in 22.34s 6th – 143 ° 5th – 2 in 23.65s 8.5
Stone Off Athlete Nation Stones Evan Singleton 8 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð 8
Finals events results Event 1: Shield Carry Weight: for distance # Athlete Nation Distance Event points Overall points 1 Mitchell Hooper 10 10 2 Tom Stoltman 9 9 3 Oleksii Novikov 8 8 4 Trey Mitchell 7 7 5 Evan Singleton 6 6 6 Pavlo Kordiyaka 5 5 7 Luke Stoltman 4 4 8 Brian Shaw 3 3 9 Mathew Ragg 2 2 10 Jaco Schoonwinkel 1 1
Event 2: Deadlift Weight: for repetitions Time limit: 60 seconds # Athlete Nation Repetitions Event points Overall points 1 Mitchell Hooper 8 10 20 2 Oleksii Novikov 7 7.5 15.5 2 Trey Mitchell 7 7.5 14.5 2 Brian Shaw 7 7.5 10.5 2 Mathew Ragg 7 7.5 9.5 6 Tom Stoltman 6 5 14 7 Evan Singleton 5 3.5 9.5 7 Jaco Schoonwinkel 5 3.5 4.5 9 Pavlo Kordiyaka 4 2 7 10 Luke Stoltman 3 1 5
Event 3: Fingal's Fingers Weight: 5 implements ranging from Time limit: 60 seconds # Athlete Nation Time (sec) Event points Overall points 1 Tom Stoltman 5 in 39.36 10 24 2 Oleksii Novikov 5 in 42.26 9 24.5 3 Trey Mitchell 5 in 48.46 8 22.5 4 Pavlo Kordiyaka 5 in 48.69 7 14 5 Evan Singleton 5 in 49.85 6 15.5 6 Mitchell Hooper 5 in 49.89 5 25 7 Brian Shaw 4 in 26.61 4 14.5 8 Luke Stoltman 4 in 32.54 3 8 9 Mathew Ragg 4 in 35.03 2 11.5 10 Jaco Schoonwinkel 4 in 40.76 1 5.5
Event 4: Max Dumbbell Opening weight: # Athlete Nation Weight Event points Overall points 1 Evan Singleton 9.5 25 1 Mitchell Hooper 9.5 34.5 3 Tom Stoltman 6.5 30.5 3 Oleksii Novikov 6.5 31 3 Pavlo Kordiyaka 6.5 20.5 3 Luke Stoltman 6.5 14.5 7 Trey Mitchell 3 25.5 7 Brian Shaw 3 17.5 7 Mathew Ragg 3 14.5
Event 5: Bus Pull Weight: Course length: Time limit: 60 seconds # Athlete Nation Time (sec) Event points Overall points 1 Mitchell Hooper 30.24 10 44.5 2 Tom Stoltman 32.27 8.5 39 2 Evan Singleton 32.27 8.5 33.5 4 Pavlo Kordiyaka 32.46 7 27.5 5 Trey Mitchell 32.49 6 31.5 6 Brian Shaw 32.65 5 22.5 7 Luke Stoltman 32.83 4 18.5 8 Oleksii Novikov 33.35 3 34 9 Mathew Ragg 36.29 2 16.5
Event 6: Atlas Stones Weight: 5 stones ranging from Time limit: 60 seconds # Athlete Nation Time (sec) Event points Overall points 1 Tom Stoltman 5 in 33.26 10 49 2 Mitchell Hooper 5 in 36.96 9 53.5 3 Trey Mitchell 5 in 45.72 8 39.5 4 Oleksii Novikov 4 in 27.43 7 41 5 Evan Singleton 4 in 28.16 6 39.5 6 Brian Shaw 4 in 35.88 5 27.5 7 Pavlo Kordiyaka 4 in 45.86 4 31.5 8 Luke Stoltman 4 in 48.49 3 21.5 9 Mathew Ragg 4 in 49.50 2 18.5
Final standings # Athlete Nation Points Mitchell Hooper 53.5 Tom Stoltman 49 Oleksii Novikov 41 4 Trey Mitchell 39.5 5 Evan Singleton 39.5 6 Pavlo Kordiyaka 31.5 7 Brian Shaw 27.5 8 Luke Stoltman 21.5 9 Mathew Ragg 18.5 10 Jaco Schoonwinkel 5.5 (Injured)
Records Mark Felix competed in his 18th World's Strongest Man competition, breaking his own record. He also became the oldest athlete to compete at the World's Strongest Man, being 57 years and 2 days old when the group stages concluded (and he was eliminated from the contest), breaking the record previously held by Odd Haugen.
Brian Shaw broke his own records for most WSM finals (15), most consecutive WSM finals (also 15), and most consecutive WSM contests (16). He also became the second man after Felix to compete in 16 WSMs. On top of this, by winning the kettlebell throw in his group, he won a record 62nd event at WSM (across both the group stages and the finals).
Rauno Heinla competed at WSM for the first time since 2011, breaking the previous record for longest absence from WSM held by Travis Ortmayer, setting a new record of 12 years.
References
External links Official website for World's Strongest Man