The 2020 World's Strongest Man was the 43rd edition of the

World's Strongest Man The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of Decemb ...

competition. It took place in

Bradenton Bradenton ( ) is a city in and the county seat of Manatee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the city's population is 55,698, up from 49,546 at the 2010 census. It is a principal city in the Sarasota metropolitan area. Dow ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

between November 11 and 15.

Oleksii Novikov Oleksii Novikov (, born 11 February 1996) is a Ukrainian professional strongman. He won the 2020 World's Strongest Man competition, becoming the second Ukrainian to win the title since Vasyl Virastyuk in 2004, and at 24 years, 278 days, he is ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

won the competition for the first time in his career, with

Tom Stoltman Tom Ryan Stoltman (born 30 May 1994) is a British professional strongman competitor, from Invergordon, Scotland. He is a three time winner of the World's Strongest Man in 2021, 2022, and 2024. He also won the national title of Britain's Strongest ...

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 Jón Páll Sigmarsson (28 April 1960 – 16 January 1993) was an Icelandic strongman, powerlifter and bodybuilder who was the first man to win the World's S ...

1984 Events January * January 1 – The Bornean Sultanate of Brunei gains full independence from the United Kingdom, having become a British protectorate in 1888. * January 7 – Brunei becomes the sixth member of the Association of Southeas ...

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 COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. The actual event itself also experienced scheduling issues because of

Hurricane Eta Hurricane Eta was a deadly and erratic tropical cyclone that devastated parts of Central America in early November 2020. The record-tying twenty-eighth named storm, thirteenth hurricane, and sixth major hurricane of the extremely active 2020 A ...

. Defending champion

Martins Licis Martins Licis (, ; born September 28, 1990) is an American professional strongman, notable for winning the 2019 World's Strongest Man, the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and the 2021 Rogue Invitational strongman championships. He's the fourth s ...

and two-time runner up

Mateusz Kieliszkowski Mateusz Kieliszkowski (born 12 August 1993) is a Polish strongman competitor, notable for winning the 2019 World's Ultimate Strongman competition. He is also a two-time World's Strongest Man runner-up, three-time Arnold Strongman Classic runne ...

did not take part this year due to injury. 2018 champion

Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (; transliterated as Hafthor in English; born 26 November 1988) is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person t ...

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 The deadlift is a strength training exercise in which a weight-loaded barbell is lifted off the ground to the level of the hips, with the torso perpendicular to the floor, before being placed back on the ground. It is one of the three powerlifting ...

for repetitions, Loading Race, Log Lift for repetitions. Stone Off

Heat 2

*Events: Farmer's Walk,

for repetitions, Loading Race, Dumbbell Press Medley. Stone Off

Heat 3

*Events: Farmer's Walk, Squat Lift for repetitions, Loading Race, Dumbbell Press Medley. Stone Off

Heat 4

*Events: Farmer's Walk, Squat Lift for repetitions, Loading Race, Log Lift for repetitions. Stone Off

Heat 5

*Events: Farmer's Walk,

for repetitions, Loading Race, Dumbbell Press Medley. Stone Off

Finals Events Results

Event 1: Giant's Medley

*Weight: anvil, yoke *Course Length: anvil, yoke *Time Limit: 75 seconds

Event 2: Max Deadlift

* 18-Inch Deadlift For Max Weight * Opening Weight:

Event 3: Keg Toss

*Weight: 8 kegs ranging from *Height: *Time Limit: 60 seconds

Event 4: Hercules Hold

*Weight: on each hand for as long as possible

Event 5: Log Ladder

*Weight: 5 logs ranging from *Time Limit: 75 seconds

Event 6: Atlas Stones

*Weight: 5 stones ranging from *Time Limit: 60 seconds *Total Weight:

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 Mark Felix (born 17 April 1966) is a Grenadian-English retired strongman competitor. He has competed at a record 18 World's Strongest Man contests, reaching the finals three times. He is the winner of the 2015 Ultimate Strongman Masters World C ...

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

References

External links

The World's Strongest Man official website
{{World's Strongest Man champions World's Strongest Man 2020 in sports in Florida November 2020 sports events in North America