The 2023 World's Strongest Man was the 46th
World's Strongest Man competition which took place in
Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from April 19 to 23.
The contest was won by
Mitchell Hooper
Mitchell Hooper (born 29 September 1995) is a Canadian strongman and kinesiologist. He secured 1st place at the 2023 World's Strongest Man competition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he also became the first Canadian in World's Stron ...
of
Barrie,
Ontario making him the first Canadian champion. Defending champion
Tom Stoltman placed second, and
Oleksii Novikov
Oleksii Novikov ( uk, Олексій Новіков, born 11 February 1996) is a Ukrainian professional strongman. He won the 2020 World's Strongest Man competition, becoming the second Ukrainian World's Strongest Man winner after Vasyl Virasty ...
placed third.
Participants
Originally,
Pavlo Nakonechnyy
Pavlo Nakonechnyy (born 12 July 1997) is a Ukrainian professional strongman and powerlifter. He is best known for his prowess in deadlifting, having pulled 390 kg (860 lb) in powerlifting and 453.5kg (1,000 lb) in strongman standards.[Cheick Sanou
Cheick "Iron Biby" Sanou (Cheick Ahmed al-Hassan Sanou) is a strongman from Bobo-Dioulasso, Burkina Faso. He is the 2018 and 2019 World Log Lift Champion and holds the Guinness World record for most overhead presses (of ...]
(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
Martins Licis ( lv, Mārtiņš Līcis, ; born September 28, 1990) is a Latvian-American professional strongman, notable for winning 2019 World's Strongest Man, 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and 2021 Rogue Invitational strongman championships. He' ...
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 6 rookies, with Thomas Evans, Kristján Jón Haraldsson, Fadi El Masri, Mathew Ragg, Spenser Remick and Jaco Schoonwinkel all making their first appearance 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 4-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 disappointingly 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. 1m 15 second time limit.
* Deadlift Machine: 7 lifts ranging from , once the seventh lift is completed the final weight was lifted for max repetitions. 1m 15 second time limit.
* Conan's Wheel:
* Log Ladder: 5 logs weighing , , , , . 1m 15 second time limit.
* Kettlebell Toss: 7 kettlebells over a bar. 60 second time limit.
Heat 1
Stone Off
Heat 2
Stone Off
Heat 3
Stone Off
Heat 4
Stone Off
Heat 5
Stone Off
Finals events results
Event 1: Shield Carry
* Weight: for distance
Event 2: Deadlift
* Weight: for repetitions
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
Event 3: Fingal's Fingers
* Weight: 5 implements ranging from
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
Event 4: Max Dumbbell
* Opening Weight:
Event 5: Bus Pull
* Weight:
* Course Length:
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
Event 6: Atlas Stones
* Weight: 5 stones ranging from
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
Final standings
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
Travis Ortmayer (born August 9, 1981) is an American professional Strongman athlete from Cypress, Texas. He is nicknamed the Texas Stoneman due to his many world records in the Atlas Stone ...
, setting a new record of 12 years.
References
External links
Official website for World's Strongest Man
{{World's Strongest Man
World's Strongest Man