2022 World's Strongest Man

The 2022 World's Strongest Man was the 45th edition of the World's Strongest Man competition, an event that took place in Sacramento, California from May 24 to May 29, 2022. The contest was won by Tom Stoltman with this being his second consecutive title.[1] Joining him on the podium were the 2019 and 2020 World's Strongest Man winners, Martins Licis and Oleksii Novikov respectively, who tied on points. In the event of a draw, the higher placing athlete in the last event, in this case Licis in the Atlas Stones, wins the tie-breaker.

2022 World's Strongest Man
Competition information
Dates24-29 May 2022
LocationSacramento, California
Country United States
Athletes participating30
Nations participating15
Champion(s)
United Kingdom Tom Stoltman

Participants

[2]

Manuel Angulo, Nedžmin Ambešković and Kim Ujarak are the first representatives of Chile, Bosnia and Herzegovina, and Greenland in WSM history, respectively. Angulo is also the first South American athlete to compete at WSM.

Before the contest began, two time runner-up Mateusz Kieliszkowski, Peiman Maheripourehir, Rauno Heinla and Pa O’Dwyer were initially contestants before withdrawing.

Graham Hicks, Cheick “Iron Biby” Sanou, four time champion Žydrūnas Savickas, and regular finalist J.F. Caron declined to compete. Hicks declined his invitation as he was not permitted to travel to the United States from the United Kingdom as he was not vaccinated against COVID-19. Caron was unable to compete as he recovered from injuries he sustained at the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic. [3]

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. 1 Minute 15 second time limit.
  • Deadlift Ladder: 5 lifts weighing between 300–380 kilograms (660–840 lb). 1 Minute 15 second time limit.
  • Car Walk: 430 kilograms (950 lb) down a 20 metres (66 ft) course. 60 second time limit
  • Log Lift: 145 kilograms (320 lb). 1 Minute 15 second time limit.
  • Wrecking Ball Hold: 228 kilograms (503 lb)

Heat 1
# Name Event 1
Loading Race		 Event 2
Deadlift Ladder		 Event 3
Car Walk		 Event 4
Log Lift		 Event 5
Wrecking Ball Hold		 Pts
1 United Kingdom Tom Stoltman 1st - 5 in 38.39s 1st - 5 in 51.46s 1st - 14.65s 1st - 8 reps 6th - 4.63s 25
2 United States Kevin Faires 2nd - 5 in 43.36s 3rd - 4 in 45.89s 3rd - 19.32s 2nd - 7 reps 1st - 1m 35.18s 24
3 Canada Gabriel Rhéaume 5th - 5 in 53.39s 2nd - 4 in 39.40s 2nd - 16.44s 3rd - 6 reps 3rd - 1m 24.10s 20
4 Latvia Aivars Šmaukstelis 3rd - 5 in 44.37s 4th - 4 in 55.91s 4th - 19.91s 4th - 4 reps 5th - 57.44s 15
5 United Kingdom Andy Black 4th - 5 in 50.81s 5th - 4 in 1m 2.30s 5th - 32.71s 5th - 0 reps 2nd - 1m 26.92s 12
6 Chile Manuel Angulo 6th - 4 in 1m 10.64s 6th - 3 in 38.62s 6th - 60.00s 5th - 0 reps 4th - 1m 11.66s 6

Stone Off

Name Nationality Stones
Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 7
Kevin Faires  United States 6

Originally, Ireland's Pa O'Dwyer was supposed to be in this group, but was forced to withdraw due to injury, and was replaced by Scotland's Andy Black. Defending World's Strongest Man Tom Stoltman would dominate this group, winning each of the first 4 events, before simply picking up the wrecking ball to get 1 point, and secure the group win. Canada's Strongest Man and WSM Rookie Gabriel Rhéaume would cause an upset, knocking out former finalist Faires in the stone off, despite Faires being four points clear.

Heat 2
# Name Event 1
Loading Race		 Event 2
Deadlift Ladder		 Event 3
Car Walk		 Event 4
Log Lift		 Event 5
Wrecking Ball Hold		 Pts
1 Canada Mitchell Hooper 1st - 5 in 38.31s 1st - 5 in 31.21s 1st - 11.64s 2nd - 7 reps 6th - 6.40s 23.5
2 United States Bobby Thompson 5th - 5 in 49.70s 2nd - 5 in 42.56s 3rd - 16.05s 1st - 8 reps 2nd - 1m 21.33s 22
3 United States Brian Shaw 2nd - 5 in 45.00s 5th - 4 in 32.20s 5th - 19.97s 2nd - 7 reps 3rd - 1m 6.13s 17.5
4 United Kingdom Mark Felix 6th - 5 in 54.96s 4th - 4 in 28.64s 2nd - 13.96s 6th - 0 reps 1st - 2m 20.49s 15
5 Georgia (country) Konstantine Janashia 4th - 5 in 49.47s 6th - 3 in 19.05s 4th - 18.16s 4th - 5 reps 4th - 1m 1.38s 13
6 Mexico Gabriel Peña 3rd - 5 in 45.88s 3rd - 5 in 52.53s 6th - 18.9 metres (62 ft) 5th - 1 rep 5th - 48.27s 13

Stone Off

Name Nationality Stones
Brian Shaw  United States 1
Bobby Thompson  United States 0

Considered the group of death when announced, this group featured 4-time World's Strongest Man and 2021 runner up Brian Shaw, 2 more finalists from 2021, Bobby Thompson and Konstantine Janashia, Mark Felix in his record 17th WSM contest, Gabriel Pena, and rookie Mitchell Hooper. Hooper stunned everyone, winning the first 3 events, before placing joint second on the log lift, meaning he needed just 1 point from the wrecking ball hold to secure the group win. In the stone off, Bobby Thompson had some problems with his tacky, and failed to lift the stone once, handing the win, and second qualifying spot to Shaw. It was the first time since 2009 that Shaw failed to win his group at WSM.

Heat 3
# Name Event 1
Loading Race		 Event 2
Deadlift Ladder		 Event 3
Car Walk		 Event 4
Log Lift		 Event 5
Wrecking Ball Hold		 Pts
1 Ukraine Oleksii Novikov 1st - 5 in 37.25s 1st - 5 in 35.64s 3rd - 15.23s 1st - 9 reps 4th - 1m 38.63s 24.5
2 United States Trey Mitchell 4th - 5 in 48.78s 3rd - 5 in 59.00s 4th - 19.24s 1st - 9 reps 1st - 2m 6.46s 21.5
3 United Kingdom Adam Bishop 2nd - 5 in 45.85s 2nd - 5 in 37.44s 5th - 23.38s 3rd - 7 reps 5th - 1m 31.35s 18
4 United States Rob Kearney 5th - 5 in 54.62s 4th - 4 in 41.28s 1st - 11.63s 4th - 6 reps 6th - 1m 1.95s 15
5 Finland Mika Törrö 3rd - 5 in 47.84s 5th - 2 in 26.65s 6th - 9.5 metres (31 ft) 6th - 2 reps 2nd - 1m 53.17s 13
6 Poland Grzegorz Szymanski 6th - 4 in 29.85s 6th - 2 in 26.91s 2nd - 14.26s 5th - 3 reps 3rd - 1m 46.49s 13

Stone Off

Name Nationality Stones
Trey Mitchell  United States 10
Adam Bishop  United Kingdom 10

This group featured 2020 Champion Oleksii Novikov, 2021 4th place finisher Trey Mitchell, 3 time finalist Adam Bishop, Rob Kearney , rookie Mika Törrö, and Poland's Grzegorz Szymanski, returning to the competition for the first time since 2016, where he made the final. In what was the best performing group across all events, Novikov came out on top, returning to the final after missing the 2021 final, and Trey Mitchell won on the stone off, despite Bishop doing more reps than any other group.

Heat 4
# Name Event 1
Loading Race		 Event 2
Deadlift Ladder		 Event 3
Car Walk		 Event 4
Log Lift		 Event 5
Wrecking Ball Hold		 Pts
1 United States Martins Licis 1st - 5 in 37.73s 1st - 5 in 43.59s 2nd - 18.93s 2nd - 9 reps 3rd - 1m 25.63s 25.5
2 Canada Maxime Boudreault 2nd - 5 in 40.68s 4th - 3 in 21.12s 4th - 49.28s 1st - 10 reps 1st - 1m 33.93s 23
3 Ukraine Pavlo Kordiyaka 3rd - 5 in 43.70s 5th - 3 in 38.50s 1st - 12.92s 2nd - 9 reps 2nd - 1m 31.33s 21.5
4 United Kingdom Gavin Bilton 4th - 5 in 45.76s 2nd - 5 in 52.28s 3rd - 23.67s 4th - 7 reps 5th - 1m 7.15s 17
5 Bosnia and Herzegovina Nedžmin Ambešković 6th - 1 in 10.20s 6th - 3 in 45.45s 5th - 13.6 metres (45 ft) 5th - 2 reps 4th - 1m 12.47s 9
6 United Kingdom Shane Flowers 5th - 5 in 48.70s 3rd - 4 in 36.69s Withdrew Withdrew Withdrew 6

Stone Off

Name Nationality Stones
Maxime Boudreault  Canada 10
Pavlo Kordiyaka  Ukraine 10

This group featured 2019 champion Martins Licis, 2021 podium finisher Maxime Boudreault, 2 time UK's Strongest Man Gavin Bilton , and 3 rookies. Unfortunately, Shane Flowers was forced to withdraw after 2 events due to injury. Licis would come out on top, with Boudreault coming through on the stones for the second year running.

Heat 5
# Name Event 1
Loading Race		 Event 2
Deadlift Ladder		 Event 3
Car Walk		 Event 4
Log Lift		 Event 5
Wrecking Ball Hold		 Pts
1 United Kingdom Luke Stoltman 1st - 5 in 37.95s 1st - 4 in 42.87s 2nd - 16.65s 1st - 10 reps 6th - Did not attempt 23
2 Iceland Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð 3rd - 5 in 49.69s 4th - 3 in 40.88s 3rd - 29.07s 2nd - 8 reps 3rd - 1m 3.42s 20
3 France Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf 4th - 5 in 52.70s 2nd - 4 in 53.87s 4th - 41.34s 3rd - 7 reps 4th - 1m 0.70s 18
4 Netherlands Kelvin De Ruiter 2nd - 5 in 39.18s 5th - 3 in 56.44s 5th - 60.00s 5th - 1 rep 1st - 1m 45.65s 16.5
5 United States Evan Singleton 5th - 5 in 1m 8.38s 6th - Did not attempt 1st - 9.86s 5th - 1 rep 2nd - 1m 40.34s 14.5
6 Greenland Kim Ujarak 6th - 4 in 34.79s 3rd - 4 in 56.48s 6th - 11.4 metres (37 ft) 4th - 6 reps 5th - 36.24s 11

Stone Off

Name Nationality Stones
Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 5
Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf  France 5

The only group without a former champion, it featured Evan Singleton and Luke Stoltman, both of whom had won 2 Giants Live events in 2021, as well as 2021 finalist Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð, and 3 rookies. Unfortunately for Singleton, he went into anaphylactic shock during the loading race, and was forced to miss the deadlift.[4] This put him in an almost irrecoverable position going into day 2 of the heats, and despite winning the car walk, was unable to even make the stone off. Stoltman would win the group with an event to spare, and Melsted would get through on the stones to make a second straight final.

Finals events results

Event 1: KNAACK Giant's Medley
  • Weight: 2 x 125 kilograms (276 lb) boxes, 455 kilograms (1,003 lb) yoke carry
  • Course Length: 10 metres (33 ft) each
# Name Nationality Time (sec) Event Pts Overall Pts
1 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 21.96 10 10
2 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 24.75 9 9
3 Oleksii Novikov  Ukraine 24.84 8 8
4 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 28.72 7 7
5 Martins Licis  United States 30.60 6 6
6 Brian Shaw  United States 30.78 5 5
7 Trey Mitchell  United States 32.54 4 4
8 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 33.87 3 3
9 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 34.11 2 2
10 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 37.61 1 1

[5]

Event 2: Car Deadlift
  • Weight: 360 kilograms (790 lb) for repetitions
  • Time Limit: 60 seconds
# Name Nationality Repetitions Event Pts Overall Pts
1 Oleksii Novikov  Ukraine 15 10 18
2 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 13 8.5 17.5
2 Trey Mitchell  United States 13 8.5 12.5
4 Martins Licis  United States 12 6 12
4 Brian Shaw  United States 12 6 11
4 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 12 6 16
7 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 10 4 6
8 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 9 3 10
9 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 8 1.5 4.5
9 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 8 1.5 2.5

[6]

Event 3: Max Flintstone Lift
  • Opening Weight: 175 kilograms (386 lb)
# Name Nationality Weight Lifted Event Pts Overall Pts
1 Oleksii Novikov[lower-alpha 1]  Ukraine 246 kilograms (542 lb) 10 28
2 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 240 kilograms (530 lb) 9 26.5
3 Martins Licis  United States 235 kilograms (518 lb) 8 20
4 Brian Shaw  United States 212 kilograms (467 lb) 5.5 16.5
4 Trey Mitchell  United States 212 kilograms (467 lb) 5.5 18
4 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 212 kilograms (467 lb) 5.5 11.5
4 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 212 kilograms (467 lb) 5.5 15.5
8 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 200 kilograms (440 lb) 3 19
9 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 190 kilograms (420 lb) 1.5 4
9 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 190 kilograms (420 lb) 1.5 6
  1. With a lift of 246 kilograms (542 lb) Oleksii Novikov set a new world record in the flinstone lift.[7]

[8]

Event 4: Bus Pull
  • Weight: 18,500 kilograms (40,800 lb)
  • Course Length: 30 metres (98 ft)
  • Time Limit: 1 Minute 15 seconds
# Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts
1 Oleksii Novikov  Ukraine 0m 41.51 10 38
2 Martins Licis  United States 0m 42.18 9 29
3 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 0m 44.50 8 34.5
4 Brian Shaw  United States 0m 44.69 7 23.5
5 Trey Mitchell  United States 0m 45.72 6 24
6 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 0m 47.00 5 20.5
7 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 0m 47.20 4 15.5
8 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 0m 49.24 3 22
9 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 0m 51.32 2 6
10 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 0m 53.22 1 7

[9]

Event 5: REIGN Power Stairs
  • Weight: 3 x 226 kilograms (498 lb)
  • Course Length: 3 steps each
  • Time Limit: 1 Minute 15 seconds
# Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts
1 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 9 in 0m 39.07 10 25.5
2 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 9 in 0m 41.04 9 43.5
3 Martins Licis  United States 9 in 0m 44.56 8 37
4 Brian Shaw  United States 8 in 1m 09.03 7 30.5
5 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 7 in 0m 32.36 6 28
6 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 7 in 0m 59.47 5 25.5
7 Oleksii Novikov  Ukraine 6 in 0m 34.20 4 42
8 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 6 in 0m 35.78 3 9
9 Trey Mitchell  United States 6 in 1m 10.22 2 26
10 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 5 in 0m 35.78 1 8

[10]

Event 6: Atlas Stones
  • Weight: 5 stones ranging from 140–200 kilograms (310–440 lb)
  • Time Limit: 60 seconds
# Name Nationality Time Event Pts Overall Pts
1 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 5 in 0m 25.76 10 53.5
2 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 5 in 0m 28.04 9 34.5
3 Trey Mitchell  United States 5 in 0m 33.06 8 34
4 Brian Shaw  United States 5 in 0m 39.29 7 37.5
5 Martins Licis  United States 5 in 0m 45.74 6 43
6 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 4 in 0m 25.78 5 30.5
7 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 4 in 0m 28.87 4 13
8 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 4 in 0m 33.55 3 11
9 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 4 in 0m 33.78 2 30
10 Oleksii Novikov  Ukraine 4 in 0m 36.70 1 43

Final standings
# Name Nationality Pts
1 Tom Stoltman  United Kingdom 53.5
2 Martins Licis  United States 43
3 Oleksii Novikov  Ukraine 43
4 Brian Shaw  United States 37.5
5 Maxime Boudreault  Canada 34.5
6 Trey Mitchell  United States 34
7 Luke Stoltman  United Kingdom 30.5
8 Mitchell Hooper  Canada 30
9 Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð  Iceland 13
10 Gabriel Rhéaume  Canada 11

Controversy

A day prior to the competition, former director for World's Ultimate Strongman, Mark Boyd, leaked a secretly recorded portion of a conversation with Luke Stoltman, brother of the eventual champion of the competition Tom Stoltman, in which he stated "... and here's the sneaky bit, so Colin's (Colin Bryce, director of Giants Live who assists in the running of the World's Strongest Man) gonna, not promised, but he says we will get more favorable groups, events, etc. in Worlds if we kinda play ball and then he can help push the Stoltman brand; if that makes sense in the Giant's Live, so basically what he did for Eddie (Eddie Hall)..." The audio was released shortly after the groups for the competition were announced, with some fans speculating on the level of difficulty of the Stoltmans' groups compared to others. Boyd has since deleted this video from his Instagram account. Prior to deletion however, he claims to have given several months for athletes to expose the corruption on their own, indicating that he also had contacted IGM directors to no avail.

Stoltman released his own response video on YouTube later that day, in which he states that the clip was taken out of context, with the conversation being 90 minutes long, and explains that he simply told Boyd what he wanted to hear because he did not want to take part in Boyd's upcoming competition.[11] Many took issue with Boyd's leaking of the conversation so closely to the World's Strongest Man competition date, leading to Boyd and Core Sports parting ways a few days later, with the company releasing a message stating they were not in support of Boyd's actions.[12]

At the current moment, IGM, the World's Strongest Man, and Colin Bryce have not yet responded to the controversy.

References
  1. Blechman, Phil. "Tom Stoltman Wins 2022 World's Strongest Man". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  2. Blechman, Phil. "2022 World's Strongest Man Roster Released". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  3. Blechman, Phil (March 30, 2022). "Notable Strongmen Who Declined Their 2022 World's Strongest Man Invitations". BarBend. Retrieved June 29, 2023.
  4. Smith, Andrew. "Evan Singleton Returns to Competition at 2022 World's Strongest Man After Withdrawing". FitnessVolt. Retrieved May 30, 2022.
  5. Blechman, Phil. "KNAACK Giant's Medley Results — Hooper Hits Again". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  6. Blechman, Phil. "Deadlift Results — Novikov Nose Bleeds To 15 Reps". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  7. Smith, Andrew (May 29, 2022). "Oleksii Novikov Scores a 246-kg (542.3-lb) Flintstone Barbell World Record At The 2022 World's Strongest Man". Fitness Volt. Retrieved September 21, 2023.
  8. Blechman, Phil. "Flintstone Barbell Results — World Records Galore". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  9. Blechman, Phil. "Bus Pull Results — No Stopping Novikov". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  10. Blechman, Phil. "Reign Total Body Fuel Power Stairs Results — Boudreault Steps Up". BarBend. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  11. Stoltman, Luke. "The Truth". YouTube. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
  12. "CoreSports". Instagram. Retrieved May 29, 2022.
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