World's Strongest Man 2021 Highlights

Preview | Highlights | Results

The 2021 World’s Strongest Man officially kicked off in Sacramento, California, on Tuesday, June 15. In all, 25 of the strongest men on the planet gathered to find out who the strongest would be over the next six days. You can read our preview of the competition, then check back here for daily results and highlights.

Day 1 Highlights

Event 1: Loading Medley Race

The athletes were placed into five groups to battle it out for ten finals positions. For the first event, the competitors’ job is to carry two wine barrels weighing 225 pounds each, a 275-pound anvil, and an 825-pound rickshaw frame 10 meters in the fastest time possible.

The standout athlete was Tom Stoltman from Scotland, who competed in Group Two. He completed the event in 46 seconds, which was the fastest time out of all athletes. The five winners are below. Unfortunately, Luke Richardson, competing in Group Three, had to withdraw due to a biceps injury.

Group One: Maxime Boudreault, 1 minute
Group Two: Tom Stoltman, 46 seconds
Group Three: Robert Oberst, 3 implements completed plus 11 meters on the fourth
Group Four: Konstantine Janashia, 3 implements completed plus 7 meters on the fourth
Group Five: Kevin Faires, 59 seconds

Event 2: Squats/Deadlifts for Reps

Groups One and Three had to perform squats for reps with 700 pounds, while Groups Two, Four, and Five had to work with 750-pound deadlifts for reps. The squats were first, where Group One competitors four-time champion Brian Shaw and Aivars Smaukstelis shared top honors by performing 10 repetitions each.

Squat, Group 1: Brian Shaw and Aivars Smaukstelis – 10 repetitions
Squat, Group 3: J.F. Caron – 11 repetitions
Deadlift, Group 2: Mark Felix, Tom Stoltman, Trey Mitchell – tied with 8 reps each
Deadlift, Group 4: Adam Bishop – 9 repetitions
Deadlift, Group 5: Bobby Thompson – 9 repetitions

Day 2 Highlights

Day 2 began with two athletes withdrawing. Terry Hollands suffered a biceps injury, and not only withdrew, but announced his retirement from future WSM contests. South Africa’s Chris van der Linde is now out of the competition due to a nondisclosed issue. Both men were in Group Four.

Event 3 (Groups One, Four, Five) Fingal’s Fingers

The five fingers weigh between 320 and 380 pounds. Competitors had to successfully flip over all five in the quickest time possible.

Three of the five groups competed in this event. Brian Shaw, Nick Best’s pick to win this year’s WSM, was the only man to flip all five fingers. Other winners were as follows:

Group One: Brian Shaw, 40.47 seconds
Group Four: Jerry Pritchett, 4 fingers in 41.19 seconds
Group Five: Oleksii Novikov, 4 fingers in 28.44 seconds

Event 3 (Groups Two and Three) Train Pull:

The original concept was for the competitors in Groups Two and Three to pull the 50-ton combination of the front and caboose of the train, similar to a harness drag. Brake issues with the front car led organizers to make a change; the competitors were asked to push the 25-ton caboose of the train, like the world’s toughest sled push.

Group Two: Johnny Hansson, 35.86 seconds
Group Three: Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted, 37 seconds

Day 3 Highlights

Event 4: Overhead Press Medley

Lifters had to clean and press two dumbbells weighing 210 and 220 pounds, a single circus barbell at 342 pounds, and an axle barbell at 360 pounds in the fastest time possible, up to 75 seconds.

Group One: Brian Shaw, 34.72 seconds
Group Two: Trey Mitchell, 29.77 seconds
Group Three: J.F. Caron, 33.72 seconds
Group Four: Konstantine Janashia, 3 implements in 48.42 seconds
Group Five: Bobby Thompson, 43.43 seconds

Event 5: Pickaxe Hold

Each athlete had to hold a 60-pound pickaxe at arm’s length straight out and extended for the maximum time possible.

Group One: Aivars Smaukstelis, 32.51 seconds
Group Two: Trey Mitchell, 46.13 seconds
Group Three: Robert Oberst, 48.03 seconds
Group Four: Jerry Pritchett, 35.39 seconds
Group Five: Bobby Thompson, 41.62 seconds

At this point in the competition, five athletes were already qualified for the Finals:

Brian Shaw
Trey Mitchell
J.F. Caron
Konstantine Janashia
Bobby Thompson

The other five athletes to make the finals were determined by a “stone off.” The second and third place finishers in each group first faced off, with each man having to lift six atlas stones ranging from 310 to 465 pounds. The competitor who lifted the heaviest stone, or who lifted the sixth stone the greatest number of times, advanced to the finals.

The winners are:

Maxime Boudreault def. Aivars Smaukstelis
Tom Stoltman def. Mark Felix
Eythór Ingólfsson Melsted def. Robert Oberst
Adam Bishop def. Jerry Pritchett
Luke Stoltman def. Kevin Faires

Surprisingly, 2020 champion Oleksii Novikov was among the athletes eliminated from the competition. He is the first reigning champion to fail at making the finals the following year since 1996 winner Magnus ver Magnusson in 1997.

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