By Jack Franks
The 2023 World’s Strongest Man competition is ready to commence on Wednesday, April 19, with Tom Stoltman looking to retain the crown he won in Sacramento, California, last year.
The heaviest sporting event on the fitness calendar kicks off with two days of qualifying rounds, followed by a two-day final, culminating in the crowning of this year’s winner on Sunday, April 23.
Six herculean-type challenges and tremendous feats of strength stand in the way of the 30 athletes across 13 countries on the roster, with Stoltman attempting a three-peat following back-to-back titles.
A host of preying strongmen aim to dethrone one-half of the Stoltman brigade, with the likes of Oleksii Novikov, Pavlo Kordiyaka, Brian Shaw and Kevin Faires in solid contention to halt Stoltman’s quest to become the first man in Strongman history to record a hat-trick of championships.
2023 also marks the first time in the competition that the two Stoltman brothers have made it to the World’s Strongest Man finals – with Luke being the elder to Tom. Luke is a lauded strongman in his own right, winner of Europe’s Strongest Man and five-time Scotland’s Strongest Man.
Could we see a third year of Stoltman dominance?
It’s set to be one of the most engrossing and competitive battles in recent Strongman history. A line-up packed with seasoned professionals, exciting and upcoming rookies, dark horses, and a few bowing out of the sport make for a tantalizing competition.
Where is the competition taking place?
The 2023 SBD World’s Strongest Man is being held in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, the first time the event has graced the state.
When does the competition start?
Wednesday, April 19th at 8 am, and runs til Sunday, 23rd April.
Where can I watch the competition?
If you’re in or around Myrtle Beach, the competition is free and open to the public, complete with a fan festival area and general admission viewing area where you can watch every event live.
There will also be constant behind-the-scenes coverage of each event on the World’s Strongest Man’s social media channels, with on-the-ground commentary and interviews hosted by 15-time WSM competitor Terry Hollands.
While there is no live broadcast on TV, you can catch all the action at home later in the summer, with coverage on CBS Sports Network and CBS Television Network starting from May 28.
Which athletes are competing?
This year is packed with seasoned professionals and rookie strongmen, making it an exciting and potentially disruptive year. Here are all the athletes you can expect to see appear in the World’s Strongest Man competition.
Tom Stoltman
Credit: Giants Live
Age: 28
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 6’8”
Weight: 397 lbs
WSM Appearance: 5th (2017, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 1st (2021, 2022)
Pavlo Kordiyaka
Age: 27
Representing: Ukraine
Height: 6’5”
Weight: 291 lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2022)
Best Finish: 3rd in heat (2022)
Evan Singleton
Credit: Giants Live
Age: 27
Representing: USA
Height: 6’6’’
Weight: 355lbs
WSM Appearance: 4th (2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 4th in heat (2020)
Credit: Barrie360
Age: 27
Representing: Canada
Height: 6’4’’
Weight: 308lb
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2022)
Best Finish: 8th (2022)
Trey Mitchell
Credit: Barrie360
Age: 29
Representing: USA
Height: 6’4’’
Weight: 342lbs
WSM Appearance: 5th (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 6th (2022)
Adam Bishop
Age: 34
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 6’3’’
Weight: 320lbs
WSM Appearance: 8th (2015, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 6th (2020)
Aivars Smaukstelis
Age: 35
Representing: Latvia
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 320lbs
WSM Appearance: 6th (2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 8th (2020)
Kevin Faires
Age: 33
Representing: United States
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 269lbs
WSM Appearance: 5th (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 7th (2020)
Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted
Age: 29
Representing: Iceland
Height: 6’1’’
Weight: 313lbs
WSM Appearance: 4th (2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 9th (2022)
Paul Smith
Age: 28
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 5’11’’
Weight: 298lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2018)
Best Finish: 6th in heat (2018)
Rauno Heinla
Age: 40
Representing: Estonia
Height: 6’0’’
Weight: 298lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2011)
Best Finish: 5th in heat (2011)
Bobby Thompson
Age: 30
Representing: USA
Height: 6’1’’
Weight: 355lbs
WSM Appearance: 4th (2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 9th (2021)
Mateusz Kieliszkowski
Age: 29
Representing: Poland
Height: 6’5’’
Weight: 331lbs
WSM Appearance: 5th (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019)
Best Finish: 2nd (2018, 2019)
Gavin Bilton
Age: 34
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 6’6’’
Weight: 452lbs
WSM Appearance: 4th (2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 4th in heat (2021, 2022)
Spenser Remick
Age: 35
Representing: USA
Height: 6’1’’
Weight: 328lbs
WSM Appearance: 1st
Best Finish: N/A
Eddie Williams
Credit: Credit: Giants Live
Age: 33
Representing: Australia
Height: 6’4’’
Weight: 419lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2019)
Best Finish: 5th in heat
Konstantine Janashia
Age: 32
Representing: Georgia
Height: 6’5’’
Weight: 375lbs
WSM Appearance: 7th (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 4th (2016)
Graham Hicks
Age: 37
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 5’10’’
Weight: 359lbs
WSM Appearance: 7th (2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2018, 2020)
Best Finish: 10th (2020)
Luke Stoltman
Age: 38
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 6’3’’
Weight: 353lbs
WSM Appearance: 8th (2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 7th (2019, 2021, 2022)
Matthew Ragg
Age: 31
Representing: New Zealand
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 309lbs
WSM Appearance: 1st
Best Finish: N/A
Gabriel Rhéaume
Age: 26
Representing: Canada
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 340lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2022)
Best Finish: 10th (2022)
Brian Shaw
Credit: Denver Post
Age: 41
Representing: USA
Height: 6’8’’
Weight: 430lbs
WSM Appearance: 16th (2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 1st (2011, 2013, 2015, 2016)
Fadi El Masri
Representing: Australia/Lebanon
WSM Appearance: 1st
Best Finish: N/A
Jaco Schoonwinkel
Representing: South Africa
WSM Appearance: 1st
Best Finish: N/A
Oleksii Novikov
Credit: Giants Live
Age: 27
Representing: Ukraine
Height: 6’1’’
Weight 298lbs
WSM Appearance: 5th (2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 1st (2020)
Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf
Age: 34
Representing: Australia
Height: 5’11’’
Weight: 282lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2022)
Best Finsh: 3rd in heat (2022)
Mark Felix
Age: 57
Representing: United Kingdom
Height: 6’4’’
Weight: 309lbs
WSM Appearance: 18th (2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022)
Best Finish: 4th (2006)
Pa O’Dwyer
Age: 37
Representing: Ireland
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 304lbs
WSM Appearance: 2nd (2020)
Best Finish: 4th in heat (2020)
Cheick Sanou
Age: 30
Representing: Burkina Faso
Height: 6’2’’
Weight: 375lbs
WSM Appearance: 1st
Best Finish: N/A
Thomas Evans
Age: 28
Representing: USA
WSM Appearance: 1st
Best Finish: N/A
What is the schedule for the event?
The competition consists of two days of qualifying rounds, followed by a two-day final, before culminating in the crowning of this year’s winner on Sunday, April 23.
Qualifier Day One: Wednesday, April 19
8:00 AM
Event: Loading Race
Viewing area: Sand Stage
11:29 AM
Event: Deadlift Machine
Viewing area: Land Stage
4:49 PM
Event: Log Ladder
Viewing area: Sand Stage
Qualifier Day Two: Thursday, April 20
8:00 AM
Event: Conan’s Wheel
Viewing area: Land Stage
1:20 PM
Event: Kettlebell Toss
Viewing area: Sand Stage
6:13 PM
Event: Stone Off
Viewing area: Land Stage
Rest Day: Friday, April 21
Final Day 1: Saturday, April 22
8:00 AM
Event: Fingal’s Fingers
Viewing area: Street Stage
10:41 AM
Event: KNAACK Deadlift
Viewing area: Sand Stage
2:18 PM
Event: Reign Total Body Fuel Shield Carry
Viewing area: Street Stage
Final Day 2: Sunday, April 23
8:00 AM
Event: Max Dumbbell
Viewing area: Land Stage
10:10 AM
Event: Vehicle Pull
Viewing area: Street Stage
1:54 PM
Event: Atlas Stones
Viewing area: Sand Stage
What events will the athletes be taking part in?
The contest will begin with a qualifying stage featuring the first six events, with the finals comprising another six unique events.
The contest has been divided into two days of qualifying, following which the 10 strongest athletes will move on to the finals. It will then take two days for the finals to reveal who will be the 2023 World’s Strongest Man.
Loading Race
The Loading Race will test the athletes’ ability to load and unload weights from a platform quickly.
Five objects, each weighing between 100–164kg, are loaded onto a truck bed or a similar platform over a course of about 50 ft.
Deadlift Machine
Credit: Giants Live
Athletes will be challenged to either lift as much weight as possible or perform as many reps with a certain weight using a specialized machine.
Log Ladder
The Log Ladder event will require the competitors to lift a series of progressively heavier logs one after the other.
Conan’s Wheel
The Conan’s Wheel event tests pure strength and pain endurance, as competitors must lift a giant implant and carry it around for a distance.
Kettlebell Toss
The Kettlebell Toss event will then challenge the athletes to throw a series of heavy kettlebells in the fastest time possible.
Stone Off
This will be a direct battle between 2nd and 3rd place finishers in each group. The two men will lift and throw the Atlas Stone to the other man’s side until one gives up, with the duel winner going through to the finals.
Fingal’s Fingers
This event revolves around a series of hinged poles – or fingers – being lifted, starting from a horizontal resting position and flipped over to the other side.
The poles get progressively heavier and longer as the event progresses, making the challenge to flip the fingers tougher and tougher as the timer counts down. The event is scored by time and by how many poles a competitor could flip over.
Shield Carry
The Shield Carry event will challenge the athletes to carry a heavy shield-shaped implement, testing their quickness and endurance.
Max Dumbbell
Day four of the 2023 World’s Strongest Man will feature the Max Dumbbell event, in which the athletes will attempt to lift the heaviest dumbbell possible.
Vehicle Pull
One of the most jaw-dropping ones to watch as vehicles such as trams, boxcars, buses and planes are pulled across a 100 ft course, by hand, in the quickest time possible.
Atlas Stones
The signature event in the WSM contest. As the final event of the whole competition, this event often determines the winner.
The Atlas Stones event will test athletes’ ability to lift and place progressively heavier Atlas stones on a platform.
Who are the favorites to win World’s Strongest Man?
Competition is fierce ahead of the 2023 World’s Strongest Man, with many touting Tom Stoltman to build on his two consecutive wins in 2021 and 2022.
However, Mitchell Hooper, who finished 8th overall in his first-ever appearance at the finals, is being mentioned as a potential thorn in Stoltman’s crown.
Ex-strongman champ Laurence Shahlaei, who now coaches Hooper, firmly believes Hooper to be amongst the title contenders whilst also backing “the Polish Terminator”, Mateusz Kieliszkowski, to go one better than his runner-up medals in 2018 and 2019.
Eddie Hall, who won the World’s Strongest Man gong in 2017, believes it’s going to be “a very tight final, predicting the likes of Pavlo Kordiyaka, Oleksii Novikov, Trey Mitchell, Kevin Faires, Adam Bishop and Evan Singleton to all be in contention on the final day of the contest.
Who are the dark horses of the competition?
There are always one or two rookies or unexpected stories from World’s Strongest Man competitions. Take Martins Licis’ superhuman effort in 2019 when he beat out former champs Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson and Brian Shaw to take the crown.
One man to keep an eye on is Mitchell Hooper. A former marathon runner, Hooper exploded onto the Strongman scene in 2021 and has been building on that success ever since. He finished 8th overall in his first World’s Strongman competition in 2022 as a rookie. Watch this space.
Thomas Evans could be another dark horse, dubbed the ‘World’s Top Amateur Strongman’ in 2022, the 28-year-old placed first in both the Arnold Amateur Strongman and Shaw Classic Open.
Evans already has his sights on the ultimate accolade, which he aims to win in the next four years. “There’s potential to get there quicker, but no give-me’s. You’ve gotta fight, scratch and claw for every opportunity you get. I fought hard to get the two opportunities I got in 2023. Make the most of your opportunities because you don’t know how many you will get.”