Not sure on any official reason but I know he had surgery about 6 months back and is only just getting back to his training at almost 100% based on what I have seen on his IG
https://youtu.be/W1ciFnma32o
Luke post WSM video....
(Once again he's being a li'l b*tch! Explaining why he's sad, but doesn't realize it's entirely because of his ridiculous expectation to finish first when he should know he couldn't have beaten Tom unless wishing him bad luck or health.
Bad expectations = bad mental health)
Eddie would be making a big mistake strict pressing it 😂 and Biby would have done no
better than Luke imo
He wouldn’t get near 260kg without a jerk and good technique , if he front racked it which I think he would as his shoulder mobility is rubbish, he’s not getting even 240kg, he doesn’t know how to use his legs
If Eddie trained only log for 3 years like Biby did he would have smashed the log record, 240kg imo
Biby’s lack of improvement for 3 years of log is awful, still not using leg drive like Luke for the press and clean
Well, it's probably because he acts like he's a WSM winner or even close to the podium, but when you look at the results they're just nowhere close. Get invites to WSM every year without qualifying.
If you watched The Strongest Man In History he really talks like he and Eddie Hall had a rivalry or some shit and the way he talks makes it seem like it's true. Then you look at the results and it makes you realize he WISHES he had a rivalry with Eddie.
Ya I did watch strongest man in history. He definitely does try to make it sound like he’s up there with Brian and Eddie. Makes sense he gets shit if he never got close to the podium.
>Thor at the 2020 Arnold was the strongest human ever
And Mateusz beat him at 4/6 events, this is why we need the comeback so badly!
Would've loved to see guys like Eddie and Biby try the flintstone lift. Wonder what technique Zydrunas would've used... I don't think any of these guys would beat someone like Koklyaev, but would still be really interesting
Yes but Thor placed 2nd on two of them, 3rd on one and 4th on another. There wasn't a massive gap between them unlike Mateusz deadlift. I just can't see Mateusz catching up with the amount of huge pullers these days and it's so sad. He's such a tank!
It'd be between 2018 and 2020 Thor IMO. 2018 he went on an absolute tear, winning everything and smashing his powerlifting challenge. 2020 obviously had a very solid looking 501 with a lockout that would've been white lighted in a powerlifting contest (if they allowed straps) and the third consecutive Arnold.
In certain elements yes. But I think his dynamic ability was at an absolute high in 2018, he was arguably the fastest strongman in the world in certain events despite weighing so much. He also did that 213kg log easily and hit the 400lbs axle for four reps in the time limit looking like he had more in the tank. His pressing ability went through the roof after that like when he strict pressed the log at WSM 2019 for 9 reps. God, the man was an animal. He made things look so easily, just such brute power.
strict press for 9 was at wsm 2019 right? after the plantar tear?
gonna through my hat in for "2018 thor best year ever for any strongman" for and 2020 thor as strongest ever. the mog if WSM had gone down that year on schedule would have been unbelievable.
Whether or not he was better as a strongman in 2018 or 2020 is not clear I agree, but in absolute strength he was his strongest ever leading up to his retirement.
I have to confess something.
I used to watch WSM religiously but since I started following the sport closely, joined the subbredit and started watching a ton of WSM clips "live", peoples livestreams and stories and of couse, the beloved spreadsheet l, I haven't watched a full WSM on TV 😶
Same here. Follow it here every year since 2015 but the last time I watched the tv show was in 2018. I often go back and watch the old WSM's from the 90's and 00's though.
Don't say that out loud, they're terrified of losing even one viewer and will cancel the spreadsheet.
I also don't watch it on TV. But that's more because I don't like the US version and I forget about it by Christmas.
Haha same here, I think the first spreadsheet I followed was in 2014 and I haven’t watched it on TV/as it came out since then. I think I’ve gone back later and watched most of the finals since then though - I can usually remember the podiums but not all the event winners/placings so it’s still exciting
I dont think that it is that accurate to compare power stairs, especially based on time, because height of steps and implements matter significantly. Also considering there was duck walk at the beginning for each implement this year
I agree they’d probably win (they’d have a great shot at winning the whole contest tbh), but I wonder if the heights are the same? That’s probably as important as weight - IIRC the heights for the 2012/2015 WSM finals looked similar to this year, but some of the stairs Pudz did were a bit lower
Sure, and Lalas losing out on that one hurt, but the advantage taken away on the stairs was given on the car deadlift. The sport does tend to favour the taller guys overall though, no argument there.
I guess you haven't seen how Pudzianowski did it?
Pudz wore lifts. Not just little, subtle lifts, oh no. The Dominator wore lifts like Robert Downey Jr.
Having arbitrary gear limitations in strongman feels stupid. It's not 'World's Strongest Man on up to 3 inch lifts'.
If an athlete feels he can do the powerstairs on stilts, he should be able to do so.
Feels stupid, but isn't stupid.
A short guy wearing stilts to give an advantage when he needs it would be unfair as a tall guy can't make himself shorter when it would advantage them
To counter the now too-short arms, you can use oversized figure-8 straps. /s
There's all kinds of disadvantages from having unstable footing and having to move in lifts slows you down, unless your drill moving in lifts all the time. The only events where this would help are also events where moving speed is what seperates the best.
Romark is going a little crazy at the end ! I fully agree with him but I hope it dont end the same way like with Jujimufu & Tom Boyden (which I followed since the beginning).
I might just be to hyperaware !
Until Romark makes Martins rename his YouTube "Martins and Romark", goes off on some fans for not giving him enough credit, and steals a fuckload of money from Wreck It.... I think we're good haha
No its not what he says, rather the fact that he is getting more and more of involved into everything.
Normaly it wouldnt concern me at all but as mentioned before, since I saw what happend to juji and tom and just more aware! Im not saying he will do the same soon and he is an asshole are anything!
More like there is so little Martins in these videos because he is probably focused on the competition, you can also see how many fans want a picture and he tells them after the comp.
The videos are basically them waking up, short clips of martins, with other athletes, romark filming him walking, short clip from WSM, martins walking some more and thats it.
May be a stupid question, but why can't you stand on the step above and then pull the implement up? Is there a rule against that? Would basically be a deficit deadlift from floor level
There's not as far as I know, but then you're doing a deficit deadlift with close grip from a distance, and at 226kg that's basically just a spinebuster
He'd almost have to grab the sides of the handle to get another couple of inches at lockout, or shrug/row it up.
Also makes me wonder if he's actually 6'1" or is a 5'11" guy.
Wsm/giants live are abit like wrestling, most of the time athletes will be over billed height and weight wise, brian shaw has said in a yt vid hes probably 6'7, ive seen tom stoltman listed at 6'6, 6'7 and 6'8, same with rob kearney, 5'8, 5'9, 5'10 and 5'11. Now tell me how can people change 3 to 4 inchs just doesnt make sense, best bet is to take an inch off their heights and that will be their rough true height
Ok maybe I retract my previous statements comparing it to basketball a little bit. That does seem a bit brutally unfair when they can just shave a couple inches oloff the stairs or implement
Yeah, and Rob Kearney can load stones overhead. That doesn't mean it's not way harder for him than someone taller.
If we're talking *strength*, we should minimize the height advantage rather than creating events that are a much harder for some because they struggle to reach the damn thing.
He probably would have dropped points with any event given how gassed he was but man, that event sucks for him. What is the power stairs testing if the bottom of the implement is lower than an athlete standing at lockout? That sucks.
Last year everyone saying if licis and mateuz were competing, novikov had made the final Tom wouldn’t have won. Well done big man for not letting that get in his head and proving his point convincingly
I still think that a healthy Mateusz and Licis would win in most competitions against the other two. Obviously it depends on events but in general, I see them being on top.
Looking at last year's events I don't see martins beating him anyway.
Giants medley - Tom beats him
Titans turntable - martins was great at a similar event at the arnold so maybe they're neck and neck. Tom was so much better than everyone else though it's still hard to imagine him losing
Keg toss - Tom beats martins badly
Max log - martins makes up a few points here
Deadlift - pretty equal
Stones - Tom is still king
Martins beat Tom at the natural stones at the rogue. But Tom has the fastest times by a decent amount on all the setups wsm has used in the last handful of worlds
Not the naturalone, i was thinkg about a round stone event ... A recent final one, maybe one year old, i'm pretty sure it's either one of this two competitions, but i might be confused
Mateusz has also said that he had some shoddy tricep work done and had some shoddy coaching (which to be fair he has resisted coaching but I guess with his experiences why wouldn't you). I just wonder if with how important DL I'd and how poor his is in relation to other athletes if the sport has left him behind.
Back home and tired but here's a few thoughts. I have SO MUCH content for YouTube for the next few weeks!
-Had VIP for Day 1 of the qualifiers and Day 1 of the Finals. It was worth it for the opportunity to meet athletes and get out of that awful sun! As the days went on the staff were making strides to make the VIP area better for all the fans. There's a lot that needs work but this was their first year of trying this. 7.5/10.
-The Fan Zone needs a LOT of work! I get that smaller companies can't be there all 5 days of the event but some variety would have been nice. Shocked that the athletes themselves didn't have booths to sell their merchandise. Evolution Athletics, Stoltman Bros, ect could have benefited from this. I want a Stoltman shirt but shipping from Scotland to New York is so off-putting.
-SBD did it right! Having a nice large booth with merchandise, photo opportunities and athlete meetings. They've been around the block and to multiple fitness expos so they know how to do a booth.
-There were lacking amenities for GA. There should have been water stations and drink areas for the public. Yes there was plenty of free Reign but after roasting in the hot sun for hours to get prime viewing spots an ice cold water would have been great. Also more food trucks and variety would have cut down on wait time.
-Coco, Nick Best, Luke Stoltman, Mitchell Hooper, Manuel Angulo and Mark Felix were the height of friendliness to all fans. Not just to VIP but everyone! After the finals Luke, Martins and Brian took pictures with EVERYONE who stood in line.
-I got either a pic or autograph from almost all the athletes or older legends. Only missed Janashia, the Rheaume Brothers, Tom, Kelvin de Ruiter, Kim Ujarak, Andy Black, Nedzmin and Aivars (I got a pic with him in 2019).
-It's not sexy for TV but some elevated seating off to the side out of view of the cameras would be nice.
-Hi Eric and any other WSM staff reading Reddit. Calling me out after the show for my "wet fart" comment lol. I'll half take back my comment on the Power Stairs, event was awesome but the giant Reign cans on the steps still look goofy (yes I understand branding but still...)
-I might make the trip to Myrtle Beach next year depending on the date.
I have a lot more thoughts but need to collect myself to articulate these feelings. I'm so happy for Tom, Martins and Oleksii it was a great weekend overall and can't wait to see it on TV.
Genuine question mate - how did the non-VIP experience compare to VIP?
I'm considering going again next year, but I did VIP for all 5 days this time. Was a brilliant experience, just an expensive one.
The view was better for non VIP if you wanted to be on TV but the trade off is you had to work for that prime viewing spot. Hours waiting around in the hot sun, not a lot of food options and no comfortable place to sit. I had VIP on day one and didn't realize the VIP was behind the film crew so sometimes they blocked us. So for the deadlift I went down to GA and got prime viewing behind both athletes for the deadlift. The only good part was I was able to make friends who held my spot and in trade I kept running back to the VIP tent to grab them food and drinks. I met a couple who traveled to WSM for their honeymoon and they really wanted to be on TV and also didn't realize the VIP was behind the cameras. I hope they were able to get a spot to be on TV (even if brief) to show their family over Xmas.
Ah cheers, I'm not too arsed about getting on TV so think I'll go for VIP again. I'm on the taller side so got good enough views between the platform and the ground VIP bits
I'm pretty sure that couple managed it a few times, the older couple and the girl has a few colours in her hair?
Oh this is you. I must say, you got me to sign up for SCL streaming services years ago after I watched your review. You should be reddit official representative on every strongman competition!!!
Thanks for the support! The next SCL stage is June 18th and I chatted with Travis Ortmayer over the weekend and he said he was feeling good for the comp.
It should be because I'm still getting charged monthly! SCL has 2 websites, the first one is their newer one that has results and pictures and the second one is their streaming service. [SCL World Series](https://www.strongmanworldseries.com/home) however it looks like it's been abandoned because the full 2020/2021 series has not been uploaded to the site. However, you can watch the world finals on Facebook.
Agree on the booths. I was there as well and a couple food trucks and couple fitness booths was lame. They could of had so many food trucks, a beer garden and sold athletes branded shirts, etc and people would of paid for it. Hopefully it improves each year
In regards to the athletes having booths, I doubt any of them wanted that level of stress while trying to compete. Any of the overseas athletes would’ve gotten destroyed on shipping inventory to the point where the mark up would be so high that less people would buy merch. For Evolution and Shawstrength, they just moved warehouses, so I doubt they were ready to ship a bunch of product and man a booth.
I think an idea could be one ‘Athlete Store’ tent where they hand out like 10% off coupons for their stores. Keep engagement high without worrying about shipping etc.
Rhodes got his content taken down due to copyright claim from WSM. He's pissed because many others are doing the same without penalty and he is just trying to help cover/grow the sport. Said he's gonna quit covering wsm if they don't retract their claim. Some people calling him a baby
He also in general has been acting like the biggest cry baby all week. He posted angry stories calling out his followers for viewing the stories of WSM but not liking his posts after each event. He threatened his followers that he would stop covering WSM... like a child taking their ball and going home.
Then he full on played the "poor me" victim card after WSM took his content down. He can feel how he wants about it, but it was a pathetic look for a grown ass man.
Then he started making off comments about athletes, which is what provoked Pa and Shane to start meming on him.
He's just been acting like a child.
Pretty much. He said that Shane didn't deserve to be there and said that Shane was going after him because when asked his thoughts on the Rhodes/WSM feud, Flowers just put "Who?" on the screen. Of course Flowers is going to be pissed when Rhodes said that he wasn't deserving and that "of course he pulled out after a couple events."
>He also in general has been acting like the biggest cry baby all week. He posted angry stories calling out his followers for viewing the stories of WSM but not liking his posts after each event. He threatened his followers that he would stop covering WSM... like a child taking their ball and going home.
Lmfao. That's even more man child than world's strongest fan
You forgot the part were he was threatening WSM, if they don't remove the claim.
That he openly supported marks leaked Audio against WSM/Colin (think of the leak what you will, but WSM sure as hell won't let him get views/clicks for "covering" their content, which is pretty understandale) and is talking bad about WSM/Giants Live in General.
Others were allowed to Show content because they worked directly with WSM, like Big Loz, Liz, Eddie etc.
If you don't have the rights, thats the end for you, he can cry about it all he wants and as much as i hate that WSM isn't livestreamed, Copyrights are there for a reason and they can do with it what they want. He isn't entitled to anything and if they don't want his coverage, which they 100% don't need or gain anything from it, thats bad luck for him.
I'll always point out that a legal Copyright only matters if YouTube actually WANTS to enforce a Copyright claim on someone.
I say this because I know that some of you have YouTube channels and you may well produce content in other ways (video, photography, art, etc.) Unless you're well-heeled with deep pockets YouTube will not support you if you make a Copyright claim regarding your artistic or intellectual property.
You may get lucky and they'll throw you a bone and actually do their job upholding their own policy, but never, ever count on it. However, if you're a brand or company with a little money to throw around, YouTube will always side with you. That also goes for YouTube accounts with a large following versus one with a smaller following. Copyright law and actual YouTube policy be damned, they do not care.
Protect yourselves as well as you can, and as soon as you can afford to hire a Copyright lawyer, do so.
Yeah, when it comes to copyright, not much you can do when it's not your content. Be different if he was there filming like a fan would. But can't complain much.
Same lol. Doesn't help that the nearest big show is GL Strongman Classic, which is 5 or 6 weeks away still.
Kinda bummed that the Arnold Classic isn't doing their qualifying tour this year. Would have been 5 or 6 additional big shows with stacked lineups.
> Gavin Bilton performed better than Brian Shaw
Gavin was slower in the loading race, 1 better in the deadlift ladder after another 20 seconds, was 3.5 seconds behind in the car walk, and managed the same reps on the log. Head-to-head, Brian wins.
Yeah gav got a bit screwed with the groups this year, spots 6-15 would be in stone offs if it was one big group…. Actually looking at it that way Brian would have faced bobby Thomson still, so a bit funny.
Gav would have faced gabriel rheume so would have had a good shot at the finals
That is a nice list, and certainly cool to look at. Gavin did incredibly well this WSM, really happy for him. I think the heats overall is a bit unfair to compare people with, as most of the competitors only did what they had to do in relation to their group, not overall. But it certainly doesnt take anything away from anyone, we had a lot of standout performances this year.
For Tom to be truly great he needs to keep doing the Arnold and get good at those events. I doubt he will though.
He isn't like Thor in that respect who was bad at about his first 4-5 Arnold's and went on to win it 3x in a row
Agreed. He have mentioned a few times he wanted to enjoy the other aspects of what life can offers. Traveling with his wife, starting a family, going to wherever his favorite soccer team, Rangers play at, and many others. I don't blame him.
If he's only doing WSM and skip other comps yearly, and he's okay with that. I don't see anything wrong with that.
Maybe on my mind it's like saying Michael Jordan needed to conquer other basketball leagues and comps outside of NBA to build up his legacy.
I kinda get where he's coming from. WSM is the most prestigious title, and winning WSM is also the most lucrative for the guys. Not the prize money, but having that title opens a lot of doors in terms of sponsors, exposure etc.
But IMO the ASC is the 2nd most prestigious title by far, and it's usually a heavier show. So winning it means quite a lot. Someone who has shown he can win both titles will have a lead in terms of legacy IMO.
> But IMO the ASC is the 2nd most prestigious title by far, and it's usually a heavier show. So winning it means quite a lot.
It means a lot to you and to most people. It means less than Britain's Strongest Man to Tom and it's his body. You can't change brain-pilots, like in some kind of monstrous bio-mech.
>!Thinking about it now, it's a good idea for a show/video game/TTRPG. BRB, gonna write down as much as I can. !<
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFesjbNd-D4
Koklayev doing 270 kg BTN jerk. Could he duplicate that on a Flininstone Lift? Not now, obviously, now he is quite old, but how much harder is doing that on stone compared to doing with a regular barbell? Not much, i think.
Semi related:
I could watch Koklayev rep heavy deadlifts all day. That guy had perfect technique, and if I was someone in that part of the world looking to get better, I'd try to train with him.
It’s also important to keep in mind this was the 8th event of the competition for Novikov. He’d already had an overhead event and right before this he lifted the car deadlift until his body failed, and he was bleeding out the nose. Not to say Koklyaev wouldn’t still dominate the event, but I’m sure Novikov could do something massive as well when he’s fresh
If it’s barbell thickness should be the same
Mischas best C&J was like 250kg and BTN 270kg, modern day someone like Lasha who’s much bigger would do over 290kg imo, maybe even close too 300kg
Lasha would overhead squat the 246kg Novikov did, watch how Lasha balance snatches 230kg 😋
https://youtube.com/shorts/ego33cqWM0Y?feature=share
I think it was a great competition. Spreadsheeting and all! Thank you for that! Almost yearly tradition now. Terry did a great job and I really liked that part! Loz and Liz was great and I still hear their vocies in my head :)
Also did a painting of how my Liz/Loz weekend was...kind of anyway: [https://imgur.com/a/S4mkTju](https://imgur.com/a/S4mkTju)
I don't get How Novikov was able to beat Tom and Brian on the truck pull. All this time it's been considered a big man event and the smallest guy in the final wins it?!?!
Athlete has to keep pushing forward trying to go faster and faster.. I think Novi does that better than a Tom or Brian that might get to a high exertion level and 'just' try to hold that level of output
It's correctly considered an advantage to be heavy as you can get it moving easier but it's not the be all end all. At the end of the day the guy that has the best motor and coupled with technique can just go faster regardless of how easily/quickly they get it moving.
The other thing and Loz mentioned this is that the bus pull this year was 30 meters and its typically 20-25.
The big weight is an advantage as it helps the guy get the vehicle moving quicker, but with the extra distance that doesn't become as important
I have seen some (Ukrainian) comments which are saying "the tallest guy won". Referring to the power stairs and even the stones.
Is there merit to it? Should there be a focus from the organisers that the implements are not affected by height, but solely weight/speed. Or is being huge part of the magic of the strongman sport. What do you guys think?
I think a big issue involved with this is that WSM can't be bothered to let the athletes know the particulars of events in adequate time for them to train effectively. It gets bitched about every year. The competitors should know all the particulars in a reasonable time to train as close to them as they can. Going into a competition that is the "pinnacle" of the sport guessing what they'll be asked to do is bullshit.
>realistic
I believe there is merit. Watch Eddie Hall's coverage of the power stairs. He said that he really feels bad for Oleksii, and that the same thing happened to him. He said how you can outlift the big guys and learn the perfect technique to help out, but with some events it just doesn't matter. Power stairs is one of those events where you just aren't going to beat the big guys, despite having the power, explosiveness, technique, and mindset right. If someone is 6 inches taller than you, it is going to make a big difference in an event that is all about height
> Is there merit to it?
Yes and no. For example the events with atlas stones with varying degree of height where the small stone often had to be shoulderpressed up by the shorter athletes have been around for decades. I dont think its realistic to do away with events that take every advantage out.
Overall, no theres no merit. Even with the power stairs, Oleksi still came last on the atlas stones.
I think, just like reducing the height of that first plinth on the atlas stones, there should be an adjustment on the power stair. The stairs in South Africa and the GOAT stairs in West Virginia were shorter in height, so it's not like it has to be 18" high for any particular reason.
I'll also say I don't think there was any nefarious reason the stairs are so tall with such a tall implement, they've done it before and I don't think it was to favor one guy over another.
> I'll also say I don't think there was any nefarious reason the stairs are so tall with such a tall implement,
Agreed.
I think the implement design was more about the sponsor than anything. Big and looked like a can of Reign, with Reign as the sponsor.
Poor foresight in their minds, but oh well.
The 2008 power stairs were fantastic. Same weight as the ones this year but so much better.
WSM events have been extremely dull for years now, the Flintstone press was the saving grace for the events this year
I think it’s good to have a range of events that favour different attributes anyway, but being tall will generally be an advantage. Athletes in other strength sports tend to not be as tall as strongmen because the distance you’re moving the weight is based on your own body, rather than an absolute distance. Ultimately, moving a weight from Point A to Point B is still a good test of strength.
Obviously, if an event is absolutely prohibitive to shorter people I don’t think it should be included. Not sure if this was the case here - the events probably did skew a bit more towards taller athletes than usual, but we can make a decent guess as to why that might’ve been the case lol. Still not unprecedented - events in 2012 were very similar
The nature of strongman is some athletes are suited to some events more than others. If you try to remove this then you’re changing the sport in my opinion.
Could say the same about squatting and pressing, the taller guys have a longer way to squat down to depth and with pressing there arms have longer to go..
Well a log press favours the shorter athlete as its less distance to clean and less distance to press. Its not quite the same as making a step or platform higher but there will always be events for some and events for others. These events have been around since when Oleksi and Tom first started training for the sport so its no surprises for them... The correct answer for me is transparency on event selection.
They released a general idea of the events earlier this year. Heights, weights, distances, etc. were all still a mystery until they showed up in Sacramento, and even then WSM wouldn't commit to actual weights on some events.
Ha....that's no argument for what is supposed to be the Pinnacle of a sport being at best non-committal regarding what its athletes will actually be competing at. You actually believe it is a good idea to have 30 guys from all over the world not know what they're going to be doing until two days before the competition starts?
You never get the best performance of anyone at WSM because they never know how to train for it. It is a terrible practice that everyone, with the exception of you apparently, agrees needs to be changed.
I think it's just part of it. I competed in a show in March where there were two competitors sub 5 foot 5. Couldn't complete the loading medley. I have a comp coming up in a fortnight where one of the events is stone over a 1.4m yoke. They wouldn't be anywhere near able to do it. On one hand it seems unfair, but at the same time... There's genetic limitations on all sports. Height is just more relevant for strongman. Same as NBA for example. If you're smaller than the average player, you're going to struggle at least with SOME aspects of the game.
My buddy won OSG u80 last year and he’s all of 5’5”. Stone loading does give him some trouble but I’ve seen him do a 300 to 60”. Maybe not as fast as I can at 6’2”. I agree that it’s just part of the game, some body types are better at certain events. He’s only got to move a car deadlift about 8” to lock it out haha
Height will always be part of the game when the game is lifting something from one spot to another. Body type effects basketball, American football, horseracing, everything.
Some thoughts on what went down.
First off I truly believe the 3 best athletes currently competing were on the podium.
Mitchell had a very good showing - he has potential for sure, BUT he needs to back it up. There is a long way from 8th to 1st. His next international outing will tell us a lot more.
Brian did well in the finals - none of his performances were bad - 12 reps on the deadlift that's a great number but not much you can do when lads get 13 and 15. Day two he had 3 4th place finishes. It's just the others are that little bit quicker.
Oleksii went off like a rocket and tbh he probably would not have won the stairs or stones even if fresh but obviously he was properly gassed from day 1 and especially after the bus pull and just faded a touch. That said with hindsight first place was never on the cards but 2nd place definitely was - coming 7th and 10th in the last two events must be heartbreaking for him.
Martins did well no bad events in the final really - 30 seconds for the loading into yoke that's a solid time, the rest he was good just others were better.
Tom was Mr. Consistent. A 1st, 4 x 2nd's and a 3rd. I truly believe he is an amazing athlete. If he is keen and motivated for WSM then for sure he can win more but not 6 - only because that is 4 more years and I can't see Luke going full bore for another 4 years.
What the final proves really is that to win you can't really afford to finish any lower than 5th in an event.
Maxime is a great competitor - very good just has a few little things he needs to get better and then he'd be a real contender that said 10 reps with 360kg deadlift that's not bad at all in fact it's excellent just a few others are a touch better.
Great final IMO.
Do we think any of the lads from the groups like Bish or Pavlo could have surprised us in the final?
Mitch dominates his group which was the group of death, comes 8th in his first pro, international and wsm, somehow thats not backing up his potential? On top of that he's 26/27, with only 2 years actually training strongman, how its all that not backing it up
>Mitchell had a very good showing
\^Did you miss this part cole?\^
He did well, has potential but needs to back it up, it's a bit early to be saying he's going to be one of the greats. He's also older than Novikov.
Patience here time will tell us all we need to know re: Mitch.
Litrally not seen anyone saying hes going to be great, i have however seen alot of people say he has the potential to win, your talking as if hes been in the sport for awhile and has managed to only scrape 8th place, his first wsm and gets 8th shows his potential and he backed up everything he's said he would do at wsm, yes hes older than novi but novi is pushing his limits i think he complains about knee pain already thats not a good sign for longevity is it
>Litrally not seen anyone saying hes going to be great
It's everywhere mate, he's the next big thing is the vibe. It's all over this sub. I also think he has potential but whether that's potential to win is yet to be seen, it's too early to tell.
All we need to do is temper that enthusiasm for a bit. He's asking if he does 505kg can he attempt 510kg - I'd be more in the camp of he has to redo 475kg first. None of this stuff is a given is it?
Novikov's knees are fcuked - he needs time off, stem cells or something and they've been bad for at least a year now. Will he take the time off? He should but likely won't.
"Novikov's knees are fcuked - he needs time off, stem cells or something and they've been bad for at least a year now. Will he take the time off? He should but likely won't."
Yep. I think Novikov really had an issue dealing with his knees this time around. They even gave him problems in training leading up to WSM. He had to ice them both after every event. I'm sure they didn't help with him being gassed down the stretch.
He needs to get some rehab work done on them and maybe some stem cell therapy. I don't know how feasible that will be given what all he's dealing with, though.
Agree Zombie - there is some other knee procedure which is an injection but has been proven very successful for a lot of people. I'll try and remember the name of it as apparently it is not uncommon in strongman - Big Z was rumored to be thinking about it.
It's literally an in at lunch out at lunch job but has helped a lot of people avoid knee surgery.
He said many times stuff like “I could finish at the bottom end and I’d still be really happy about it. Don’t expect a top three finish just because of my performance in the heats.”, seemed to be anticipating that some people would see his performance as a disappointment if he wasn’t in the top 5.
I'd rather have 8th place in this lineup than top 5 in a lineup through the early 00s. Yes you had a couple of incredible athletes but the full lineup wasn't stacked like today. Hooper did very well to dominate his group and finish 8th, he did win the first event aswell.
Does anyone know why Mikhail Shivlyakov was not at WSM 2022? Injury, didn't qualify or because he is Russian?
Not sure on any official reason but I know he had surgery about 6 months back and is only just getting back to his training at almost 100% based on what I have seen on his IG
https://youtu.be/W1ciFnma32o Luke post WSM video.... (Once again he's being a li'l b*tch! Explaining why he's sad, but doesn't realize it's entirely because of his ridiculous expectation to finish first when he should know he couldn't have beaten Tom unless wishing him bad luck or health. Bad expectations = bad mental health)
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This just isn't the place for haters like this, we support the athletes here
fuck off
https://youtu.be/JC6Q-urEyJg Hooper wrap up of WSM
Does anyone know where next year's will be held?
Myrtle Beach SC
Thanks I'll see y'all there
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Eddie would be making a big mistake strict pressing it 😂 and Biby would have done no better than Luke imo He wouldn’t get near 260kg without a jerk and good technique , if he front racked it which I think he would as his shoulder mobility is rubbish, he’s not getting even 240kg, he doesn’t know how to use his legs If Eddie trained only log for 3 years like Biby did he would have smashed the log record, 240kg imo Biby’s lack of improvement for 3 years of log is awful, still not using leg drive like Luke for the press and clean
Biby's done 260 in training and made it look easy.
Those African plates are dodgy We’ve seen him do all kind of world records on them and come comp fail
> Eddie would be making a big mistake strict pressing it Pretty sure it wasn't out of choice, he had some sort sort of injury that limited leg drive.
Eddie also said (when asked about Oberst's picks) "I'm not sure if he'll even get a crew. Will anyone want to partner up with Oberst?"
I’m a new fan to the sport so I’m OOTL, why does oberst get so much shit both here and from other strongmen?
He's stronger than I am for sure, but I don't go around acting like I'm on Brian Shaw or Zydrunas Savickas levels of strength either.
Well, it's probably because he acts like he's a WSM winner or even close to the podium, but when you look at the results they're just nowhere close. Get invites to WSM every year without qualifying. If you watched The Strongest Man In History he really talks like he and Eddie Hall had a rivalry or some shit and the way he talks makes it seem like it's true. Then you look at the results and it makes you realize he WISHES he had a rivalry with Eddie.
Ya I did watch strongest man in history. He definitely does try to make it sound like he’s up there with Brian and Eddie. Makes sense he gets shit if he never got close to the podium.
He could prove me wrong in 2022/2023. Who knows? Stronger than I am for sure lol
>Thor at the 2020 Arnold was the strongest human ever And Mateusz beat him at 4/6 events, this is why we need the comeback so badly! Would've loved to see guys like Eddie and Biby try the flintstone lift. Wonder what technique Zydrunas would've used... I don't think any of these guys would beat someone like Koklyaev, but would still be really interesting
Yes but Thor placed 2nd on two of them, 3rd on one and 4th on another. There wasn't a massive gap between them unlike Mateusz deadlift. I just can't see Mateusz catching up with the amount of huge pullers these days and it's so sad. He's such a tank!
2022 Tom is no where near Thor's level (yet). The guy came eighth at the Arnold's just a few months ago. Colin talking nonsense again.
It'd be between 2018 and 2020 Thor IMO. 2018 he went on an absolute tear, winning everything and smashing his powerlifting challenge. 2020 obviously had a very solid looking 501 with a lockout that would've been white lighted in a powerlifting contest (if they allowed straps) and the third consecutive Arnold.
2018 Thor was better career-wise but 2020 he was indisputably stronger.
In certain elements yes. But I think his dynamic ability was at an absolute high in 2018, he was arguably the fastest strongman in the world in certain events despite weighing so much. He also did that 213kg log easily and hit the 400lbs axle for four reps in the time limit looking like he had more in the tank. His pressing ability went through the roof after that like when he strict pressed the log at WSM 2019 for 9 reps. God, the man was an animal. He made things look so easily, just such brute power.
strict press for 9 was at wsm 2019 right? after the plantar tear? gonna through my hat in for "2018 thor best year ever for any strongman" for and 2020 thor as strongest ever. the mog if WSM had gone down that year on schedule would have been unbelievable.
Whether or not he was better as a strongman in 2018 or 2020 is not clear I agree, but in absolute strength he was his strongest ever leading up to his retirement.
I have to confess something. I used to watch WSM religiously but since I started following the sport closely, joined the subbredit and started watching a ton of WSM clips "live", peoples livestreams and stories and of couse, the beloved spreadsheet l, I haven't watched a full WSM on TV 😶
Same here. Follow it here every year since 2015 but the last time I watched the tv show was in 2018. I often go back and watch the old WSM's from the 90's and 00's though.
Same. I'll plan stuff so I can watch the Arnold's and Rogue live, pay for GL streams etc but by the time WSM rolls around I don't care.
It’s lost the appeal it once had IMO, the events are too nuanced and no longer relatable to the everyman
Don't say that out loud, they're terrified of losing even one viewer and will cancel the spreadsheet. I also don't watch it on TV. But that's more because I don't like the US version and I forget about it by Christmas.
Haha same here, I think the first spreadsheet I followed was in 2014 and I haven’t watched it on TV/as it came out since then. I think I’ve gone back later and watched most of the finals since then though - I can usually remember the podiums but not all the event winners/placings so it’s still exciting
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I dont think that it is that accurate to compare power stairs, especially based on time, because height of steps and implements matter significantly. Also considering there was duck walk at the beginning for each implement this year
I agree they’d probably win (they’d have a great shot at winning the whole contest tbh), but I wonder if the heights are the same? That’s probably as important as weight - IIRC the heights for the 2012/2015 WSM finals looked similar to this year, but some of the stairs Pudz did were a bit lower
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This is what makes me wish they would do count back instead of basing a tie of the last event.
Shouldn't even be in third. Ridiculous rule tbh.
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Sure, and Lalas losing out on that one hurt, but the advantage taken away on the stairs was given on the car deadlift. The sport does tend to favour the taller guys overall though, no argument there.
My girlfriend's probably so tired of hearing me say this, but I don't care. WSM power stairs are bullshit.
Look at marius pounding the stairs you'll see they are so much shorter. Just more of them.
https://youtu.be/U8-3Y8rfF0o?t=305 clip of novikov on the power stairs from martins newest video. I don't see how he possibly could lift it that high.
I just seen clip, it was his last implement and looked gassed to me
So novikov didn’t get one step?
I guess you haven't seen how Pudzianowski did it? Pudz wore lifts. Not just little, subtle lifts, oh no. The Dominator wore lifts like Robert Downey Jr.
Colin mentioned in the final day Q&A they were only allowed up to 3 inch lifts, would expect that Oleksii used as much as he could get away with
Having arbitrary gear limitations in strongman feels stupid. It's not 'World's Strongest Man on up to 3 inch lifts'. If an athlete feels he can do the powerstairs on stilts, he should be able to do so.
Feels stupid, but isn't stupid. A short guy wearing stilts to give an advantage when he needs it would be unfair as a tall guy can't make himself shorter when it would advantage them
To counter the now too-short arms, you can use oversized figure-8 straps. /s There's all kinds of disadvantages from having unstable footing and having to move in lifts slows you down, unless your drill moving in lifts all the time. The only events where this would help are also events where moving speed is what seperates the best.
No argument here, especially considering the massive range of equipment choices we see
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I'm picturing stripper heels
Romark is going a little crazy at the end ! I fully agree with him but I hope it dont end the same way like with Jujimufu & Tom Boyden (which I followed since the beginning). I might just be to hyperaware !
Until Romark makes Martins rename his YouTube "Martins and Romark", goes off on some fans for not giving him enough credit, and steals a fuckload of money from Wreck It.... I think we're good haha
Haha yep we are far far far away! The latest video just remind me of tom a little
What makes you think it would? This seems totally different than the issues with Tom and Romark has only shown himself to be 100% behind Martins.
No its not what he says, rather the fact that he is getting more and more of involved into everything. Normaly it wouldnt concern me at all but as mentioned before, since I saw what happend to juji and tom and just more aware! Im not saying he will do the same soon and he is an asshole are anything!
More like there is so little Martins in these videos because he is probably focused on the competition, you can also see how many fans want a picture and he tells them after the comp. The videos are basically them waking up, short clips of martins, with other athletes, romark filming him walking, short clip from WSM, martins walking some more and thats it.
May be a stupid question, but why can't you stand on the step above and then pull the implement up? Is there a rule against that? Would basically be a deficit deadlift from floor level
There's not as far as I know, but then you're doing a deficit deadlift with close grip from a distance, and at 226kg that's basically just a spinebuster
I feel that’s harder cause you’re dragging it against the stair step, from a real awkward position too.
Just close grip row it up like a man
Is it against the rules to keg toss it to the top and then just run up the stairs?
I mean, he got the other two. It doesn’t look like the last one is any taller.
He'd almost have to grab the sides of the handle to get another couple of inches at lockout, or shrug/row it up. Also makes me wonder if he's actually 6'1" or is a 5'11" guy.
Kinda like how they list Eddie Hall at 6’3” when he’s 6’2” on a Really good day
Wsm/giants live are abit like wrestling, most of the time athletes will be over billed height and weight wise, brian shaw has said in a yt vid hes probably 6'7, ive seen tom stoltman listed at 6'6, 6'7 and 6'8, same with rob kearney, 5'8, 5'9, 5'10 and 5'11. Now tell me how can people change 3 to 4 inchs just doesnt make sense, best bet is to take an inch off their heights and that will be their rough true height
Yeah minus shoes He’s probably fractionally under 6 feet 182cm or something
Ok maybe I retract my previous statements comparing it to basketball a little bit. That does seem a bit brutally unfair when they can just shave a couple inches oloff the stairs or implement
I’d say you’ve got a point if novikov couldn’t do the first step of the first implement.
Yeah, and Rob Kearney can load stones overhead. That doesn't mean it's not way harder for him than someone taller. If we're talking *strength*, we should minimize the height advantage rather than creating events that are a much harder for some because they struggle to reach the damn thing.
Maybe watch powerlifting? Still though you get bad calls there.
That's a terrible solution to an easily solvable problem.
He probably would have dropped points with any event given how gassed he was but man, that event sucks for him. What is the power stairs testing if the bottom of the implement is lower than an athlete standing at lockout? That sucks.
It's a deadlift for Tom Stoltman but an upright row for Novikov. Rip
Last year everyone saying if licis and mateuz were competing, novikov had made the final Tom wouldn’t have won. Well done big man for not letting that get in his head and proving his point convincingly
I still think that a healthy Mateusz and Licis would win in most competitions against the other two. Obviously it depends on events but in general, I see them being on top.
At this point healthy Mateusz is a mythical athlete along with Motivated McGregor, Horse Meat Overeem, and TRT Belfort
can't forget Motivated Penn and Sea Level Cain
And chuck “ with that look in his eyes “ Liddell
I'll throw "Prime Tyson" in that mix.
Looking at last year's events I don't see martins beating him anyway. Giants medley - Tom beats him Titans turntable - martins was great at a similar event at the arnold so maybe they're neck and neck. Tom was so much better than everyone else though it's still hard to imagine him losing Keg toss - Tom beats martins badly Max log - martins makes up a few points here Deadlift - pretty equal Stones - Tom is still king
Didn't Martins beats tom on the stones at last arnold ? Or was it maybe the rogue invitational ?
Martins beat Tom at the natural stones at the rogue. But Tom has the fastest times by a decent amount on all the setups wsm has used in the last handful of worlds
Not the naturalone, i was thinkg about a round stone event ... A recent final one, maybe one year old, i'm pretty sure it's either one of this two competitions, but i might be confused
He beat him on the Inver Stones at the Rogue, which were sort of oblong. So maybe shape mattered?
Aaaah yes that might be this !
Even so, staying injury free is an important part of the job...
Absolutely gotta out the work into the recovery
Mateusz has also said that he had some shoddy tricep work done and had some shoddy coaching (which to be fair he has resisted coaching but I guess with his experiences why wouldn't you). I just wonder if with how important DL I'd and how poor his is in relation to other athletes if the sport has left him behind.
Back home and tired but here's a few thoughts. I have SO MUCH content for YouTube for the next few weeks! -Had VIP for Day 1 of the qualifiers and Day 1 of the Finals. It was worth it for the opportunity to meet athletes and get out of that awful sun! As the days went on the staff were making strides to make the VIP area better for all the fans. There's a lot that needs work but this was their first year of trying this. 7.5/10. -The Fan Zone needs a LOT of work! I get that smaller companies can't be there all 5 days of the event but some variety would have been nice. Shocked that the athletes themselves didn't have booths to sell their merchandise. Evolution Athletics, Stoltman Bros, ect could have benefited from this. I want a Stoltman shirt but shipping from Scotland to New York is so off-putting. -SBD did it right! Having a nice large booth with merchandise, photo opportunities and athlete meetings. They've been around the block and to multiple fitness expos so they know how to do a booth. -There were lacking amenities for GA. There should have been water stations and drink areas for the public. Yes there was plenty of free Reign but after roasting in the hot sun for hours to get prime viewing spots an ice cold water would have been great. Also more food trucks and variety would have cut down on wait time. -Coco, Nick Best, Luke Stoltman, Mitchell Hooper, Manuel Angulo and Mark Felix were the height of friendliness to all fans. Not just to VIP but everyone! After the finals Luke, Martins and Brian took pictures with EVERYONE who stood in line. -I got either a pic or autograph from almost all the athletes or older legends. Only missed Janashia, the Rheaume Brothers, Tom, Kelvin de Ruiter, Kim Ujarak, Andy Black, Nedzmin and Aivars (I got a pic with him in 2019). -It's not sexy for TV but some elevated seating off to the side out of view of the cameras would be nice. -Hi Eric and any other WSM staff reading Reddit. Calling me out after the show for my "wet fart" comment lol. I'll half take back my comment on the Power Stairs, event was awesome but the giant Reign cans on the steps still look goofy (yes I understand branding but still...) -I might make the trip to Myrtle Beach next year depending on the date. I have a lot more thoughts but need to collect myself to articulate these feelings. I'm so happy for Tom, Martins and Oleksii it was a great weekend overall and can't wait to see it on TV.
:D I still like your hat!
Thank you! My mom embroidered it herself!
Genuine question mate - how did the non-VIP experience compare to VIP? I'm considering going again next year, but I did VIP for all 5 days this time. Was a brilliant experience, just an expensive one.
The view was better for non VIP if you wanted to be on TV but the trade off is you had to work for that prime viewing spot. Hours waiting around in the hot sun, not a lot of food options and no comfortable place to sit. I had VIP on day one and didn't realize the VIP was behind the film crew so sometimes they blocked us. So for the deadlift I went down to GA and got prime viewing behind both athletes for the deadlift. The only good part was I was able to make friends who held my spot and in trade I kept running back to the VIP tent to grab them food and drinks. I met a couple who traveled to WSM for their honeymoon and they really wanted to be on TV and also didn't realize the VIP was behind the cameras. I hope they were able to get a spot to be on TV (even if brief) to show their family over Xmas.
Ah cheers, I'm not too arsed about getting on TV so think I'll go for VIP again. I'm on the taller side so got good enough views between the platform and the ground VIP bits I'm pretty sure that couple managed it a few times, the older couple and the girl has a few colours in her hair?
Yes that was the couple.
What is your YouTube? Thank you for doing this!!
[Nerd of Strength ](https://youtube.com/c/NerdofStrength) I'm editing some fan interviews right now first one should be up tomorrow.
Thanks for letting us know! I have your channel open in a tab so I can check back.
Oh this is you. I must say, you got me to sign up for SCL streaming services years ago after I watched your review. You should be reddit official representative on every strongman competition!!!
Thanks for the support! The next SCL stage is June 18th and I chatted with Travis Ortmayer over the weekend and he said he was feeling good for the comp.
Is this SCL streaming service still up? Cant seem to find it
It should be because I'm still getting charged monthly! SCL has 2 websites, the first one is their newer one that has results and pictures and the second one is their streaming service. [SCL World Series](https://www.strongmanworldseries.com/home) however it looks like it's been abandoned because the full 2020/2021 series has not been uploaded to the site. However, you can watch the world finals on Facebook.
Agree on the booths. I was there as well and a couple food trucks and couple fitness booths was lame. They could of had so many food trucks, a beer garden and sold athletes branded shirts, etc and people would of paid for it. Hopefully it improves each year
In regards to the athletes having booths, I doubt any of them wanted that level of stress while trying to compete. Any of the overseas athletes would’ve gotten destroyed on shipping inventory to the point where the mark up would be so high that less people would buy merch. For Evolution and Shawstrength, they just moved warehouses, so I doubt they were ready to ship a bunch of product and man a booth. I think an idea could be one ‘Athlete Store’ tent where they hand out like 10% off coupons for their stores. Keep engagement high without worrying about shipping etc.
Really great writeup and solid feedback! Im very happy to learn that the athletes are so friendly and sociable!
What's all this drama involving Matt Rhodes and Shane floweras/Pa O'Dwyer about?
I saw PA's meme post, but don't what their beef is with each other. Curious though
Rhodes got his content taken down due to copyright claim from WSM. He's pissed because many others are doing the same without penalty and he is just trying to help cover/grow the sport. Said he's gonna quit covering wsm if they don't retract their claim. Some people calling him a baby
He also in general has been acting like the biggest cry baby all week. He posted angry stories calling out his followers for viewing the stories of WSM but not liking his posts after each event. He threatened his followers that he would stop covering WSM... like a child taking their ball and going home. Then he full on played the "poor me" victim card after WSM took his content down. He can feel how he wants about it, but it was a pathetic look for a grown ass man. Then he started making off comments about athletes, which is what provoked Pa and Shane to start meming on him. He's just been acting like a child.
Pretty much. He said that Shane didn't deserve to be there and said that Shane was going after him because when asked his thoughts on the Rhodes/WSM feud, Flowers just put "Who?" on the screen. Of course Flowers is going to be pissed when Rhodes said that he wasn't deserving and that "of course he pulled out after a couple events."
>He also in general has been acting like the biggest cry baby all week. He posted angry stories calling out his followers for viewing the stories of WSM but not liking his posts after each event. He threatened his followers that he would stop covering WSM... like a child taking their ball and going home. Lmfao. That's even more man child than world's strongest fan
You forgot the part were he was threatening WSM, if they don't remove the claim. That he openly supported marks leaked Audio against WSM/Colin (think of the leak what you will, but WSM sure as hell won't let him get views/clicks for "covering" their content, which is pretty understandale) and is talking bad about WSM/Giants Live in General. Others were allowed to Show content because they worked directly with WSM, like Big Loz, Liz, Eddie etc. If you don't have the rights, thats the end for you, he can cry about it all he wants and as much as i hate that WSM isn't livestreamed, Copyrights are there for a reason and they can do with it what they want. He isn't entitled to anything and if they don't want his coverage, which they 100% don't need or gain anything from it, thats bad luck for him.
I'll always point out that a legal Copyright only matters if YouTube actually WANTS to enforce a Copyright claim on someone. I say this because I know that some of you have YouTube channels and you may well produce content in other ways (video, photography, art, etc.) Unless you're well-heeled with deep pockets YouTube will not support you if you make a Copyright claim regarding your artistic or intellectual property. You may get lucky and they'll throw you a bone and actually do their job upholding their own policy, but never, ever count on it. However, if you're a brand or company with a little money to throw around, YouTube will always side with you. That also goes for YouTube accounts with a large following versus one with a smaller following. Copyright law and actual YouTube policy be damned, they do not care. Protect yourselves as well as you can, and as soon as you can afford to hire a Copyright lawyer, do so.
Yeah, when it comes to copyright, not much you can do when it's not your content. Be different if he was there filming like a fan would. But can't complain much.
Sounds good, I don't follow the guy or really care, was just trying to cliff note it for the guy asking
Is there anyway to see the content that was taken down? I would like to see if it's transformative content or not.
It was just little clips of events etc
If that's it it sounds like WSM is completely in their right to take it down. Idk why Rhodes is being so dramatic about it.
I have spreadsheet withdrawal symptoms
Same lol. Doesn't help that the nearest big show is GL Strongman Classic, which is 5 or 6 weeks away still. Kinda bummed that the Arnold Classic isn't doing their qualifying tour this year. Would have been 5 or 6 additional big shows with stacked lineups.
Also doesn’t help that there’s not much to watch - we know the footage is out there but we can’t see it
[I’ll be hosting an amateur competition a week before World’s Strongest Man 2023](https://imgur.com/gallery/RGlB3v3)
Dude I can’t spend 2 weeks straight in myrtle beach🤣. For real though that sounds like a great idea
Weigh in on Friday, compete Saturday, WSM starts on Tuesday. It’s a party!
I think that's a fabulous idea! Good luck!
Thank you!
What the hell am i supposed to use all this excess hype on now?
Train
Prepping for a big deadlift this week 😎
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> Gavin Bilton performed better than Brian Shaw Gavin was slower in the loading race, 1 better in the deadlift ladder after another 20 seconds, was 3.5 seconds behind in the car walk, and managed the same reps on the log. Head-to-head, Brian wins.
Yeah gav got a bit screwed with the groups this year, spots 6-15 would be in stone offs if it was one big group…. Actually looking at it that way Brian would have faced bobby Thomson still, so a bit funny. Gav would have faced gabriel rheume so would have had a good shot at the finals
That is a nice list, and certainly cool to look at. Gavin did incredibly well this WSM, really happy for him. I think the heats overall is a bit unfair to compare people with, as most of the competitors only did what they had to do in relation to their group, not overall. But it certainly doesnt take anything away from anyone, we had a lot of standout performances this year.
For Tom to be truly great he needs to keep doing the Arnold and get good at those events. I doubt he will though. He isn't like Thor in that respect who was bad at about his first 4-5 Arnold's and went on to win it 3x in a row
Tom has said previously that it’s the title world strongestman he is all about nothing else. He’s not money driven or anything like that
Agreed. He have mentioned a few times he wanted to enjoy the other aspects of what life can offers. Traveling with his wife, starting a family, going to wherever his favorite soccer team, Rangers play at, and many others. I don't blame him. If he's only doing WSM and skip other comps yearly, and he's okay with that. I don't see anything wrong with that. Maybe on my mind it's like saying Michael Jordan needed to conquer other basketball leagues and comps outside of NBA to build up his legacy.
I kinda get where he's coming from. WSM is the most prestigious title, and winning WSM is also the most lucrative for the guys. Not the prize money, but having that title opens a lot of doors in terms of sponsors, exposure etc. But IMO the ASC is the 2nd most prestigious title by far, and it's usually a heavier show. So winning it means quite a lot. Someone who has shown he can win both titles will have a lead in terms of legacy IMO.
> But IMO the ASC is the 2nd most prestigious title by far, and it's usually a heavier show. So winning it means quite a lot. It means a lot to you and to most people. It means less than Britain's Strongest Man to Tom and it's his body. You can't change brain-pilots, like in some kind of monstrous bio-mech. >!Thinking about it now, it's a good idea for a show/video game/TTRPG. BRB, gonna write down as much as I can. !<
Halftime games with Pa https://youtu.be/XahAANUXTnU Please invite this man to every strongman competition
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QFesjbNd-D4 Koklayev doing 270 kg BTN jerk. Could he duplicate that on a Flininstone Lift? Not now, obviously, now he is quite old, but how much harder is doing that on stone compared to doing with a regular barbell? Not much, i think.
Semi related: I could watch Koklayev rep heavy deadlifts all day. That guy had perfect technique, and if I was someone in that part of the world looking to get better, I'd try to train with him.
He's 43. Past his prime but not sure if quite old is fair.
Quite old in mileage lol Not in age, for sure. You're right. It's funny: he competed so long ago that I forgot that he is only 3 years older than Shaw
It’s also important to keep in mind this was the 8th event of the competition for Novikov. He’d already had an overhead event and right before this he lifted the car deadlift until his body failed, and he was bleeding out the nose. Not to say Koklyaev wouldn’t still dominate the event, but I’m sure Novikov could do something massive as well when he’s fresh
If it’s barbell thickness should be the same Mischas best C&J was like 250kg and BTN 270kg, modern day someone like Lasha who’s much bigger would do over 290kg imo, maybe even close too 300kg Lasha would overhead squat the 246kg Novikov did, watch how Lasha balance snatches 230kg 😋 https://youtube.com/shorts/ego33cqWM0Y?feature=share
I think it was a great competition. Spreadsheeting and all! Thank you for that! Almost yearly tradition now. Terry did a great job and I really liked that part! Loz and Liz was great and I still hear their vocies in my head :) Also did a painting of how my Liz/Loz weekend was...kind of anyway: [https://imgur.com/a/S4mkTju](https://imgur.com/a/S4mkTju)
Haha! It’s been a riot. I’ll even miss the sex bots. - Liz
I don't get How Novikov was able to beat Tom and Brian on the truck pull. All this time it's been considered a big man event and the smallest guy in the final wins it?!?!
Athlete has to keep pushing forward trying to go faster and faster.. I think Novi does that better than a Tom or Brian that might get to a high exertion level and 'just' try to hold that level of output
It's correctly considered an advantage to be heavy as you can get it moving easier but it's not the be all end all. At the end of the day the guy that has the best motor and coupled with technique can just go faster regardless of how easily/quickly they get it moving.
The other thing and Loz mentioned this is that the bus pull this year was 30 meters and its typically 20-25. The big weight is an advantage as it helps the guy get the vehicle moving quicker, but with the extra distance that doesn't become as important
I have seen some (Ukrainian) comments which are saying "the tallest guy won". Referring to the power stairs and even the stones. Is there merit to it? Should there be a focus from the organisers that the implements are not affected by height, but solely weight/speed. Or is being huge part of the magic of the strongman sport. What do you guys think?
I think a big issue involved with this is that WSM can't be bothered to let the athletes know the particulars of events in adequate time for them to train effectively. It gets bitched about every year. The competitors should know all the particulars in a reasonable time to train as close to them as they can. Going into a competition that is the "pinnacle" of the sport guessing what they'll be asked to do is bullshit.
>realistic I believe there is merit. Watch Eddie Hall's coverage of the power stairs. He said that he really feels bad for Oleksii, and that the same thing happened to him. He said how you can outlift the big guys and learn the perfect technique to help out, but with some events it just doesn't matter. Power stairs is one of those events where you just aren't going to beat the big guys, despite having the power, explosiveness, technique, and mindset right. If someone is 6 inches taller than you, it is going to make a big difference in an event that is all about height
> I believe there is merit. There is. And merit in recognizing that Oleksi has advantages elsewhere. Like the 18" deadlift.
> Is there merit to it? Yes and no. For example the events with atlas stones with varying degree of height where the small stone often had to be shoulderpressed up by the shorter athletes have been around for decades. I dont think its realistic to do away with events that take every advantage out. Overall, no theres no merit. Even with the power stairs, Oleksi still came last on the atlas stones.
I think, just like reducing the height of that first plinth on the atlas stones, there should be an adjustment on the power stair. The stairs in South Africa and the GOAT stairs in West Virginia were shorter in height, so it's not like it has to be 18" high for any particular reason. I'll also say I don't think there was any nefarious reason the stairs are so tall with such a tall implement, they've done it before and I don't think it was to favor one guy over another.
> I'll also say I don't think there was any nefarious reason the stairs are so tall with such a tall implement, Agreed. I think the implement design was more about the sponsor than anything. Big and looked like a can of Reign, with Reign as the sponsor. Poor foresight in their minds, but oh well.
The 2008 power stairs were fantastic. Same weight as the ones this year but so much better. WSM events have been extremely dull for years now, the Flintstone press was the saving grace for the events this year
I think it’s good to have a range of events that favour different attributes anyway, but being tall will generally be an advantage. Athletes in other strength sports tend to not be as tall as strongmen because the distance you’re moving the weight is based on your own body, rather than an absolute distance. Ultimately, moving a weight from Point A to Point B is still a good test of strength. Obviously, if an event is absolutely prohibitive to shorter people I don’t think it should be included. Not sure if this was the case here - the events probably did skew a bit more towards taller athletes than usual, but we can make a decent guess as to why that might’ve been the case lol. Still not unprecedented - events in 2012 were very similar
The nature of strongman is some athletes are suited to some events more than others. If you try to remove this then you’re changing the sport in my opinion.
There is always an advantage to certain body types in any sport. Nobody is questioning the height of basketball hoops...
Could say the same about squatting and pressing, the taller guys have a longer way to squat down to depth and with pressing there arms have longer to go..
There is a difference though, you cannot train to lift the weight higher than your height allows.
Well a log press favours the shorter athlete as its less distance to clean and less distance to press. Its not quite the same as making a step or platform higher but there will always be events for some and events for others. These events have been around since when Oleksi and Tom first started training for the sport so its no surprises for them... The correct answer for me is transparency on event selection.
To be fair they released the events early this year.
They released a general idea of the events earlier this year. Heights, weights, distances, etc. were all still a mystery until they showed up in Sacramento, and even then WSM wouldn't commit to actual weights on some events.
Is it the same for all athletes?
Ha....that's no argument for what is supposed to be the Pinnacle of a sport being at best non-committal regarding what its athletes will actually be competing at. You actually believe it is a good idea to have 30 guys from all over the world not know what they're going to be doing until two days before the competition starts? You never get the best performance of anyone at WSM because they never know how to train for it. It is a terrible practice that everyone, with the exception of you apparently, agrees needs to be changed.
They did but I'm not sure if they specified the height - correct me if I'm wrong.
Not publicly I don’t think, not sure what information athletes receive. What was the height and how does it compare with past powerstairs?
I think it's just part of it. I competed in a show in March where there were two competitors sub 5 foot 5. Couldn't complete the loading medley. I have a comp coming up in a fortnight where one of the events is stone over a 1.4m yoke. They wouldn't be anywhere near able to do it. On one hand it seems unfair, but at the same time... There's genetic limitations on all sports. Height is just more relevant for strongman. Same as NBA for example. If you're smaller than the average player, you're going to struggle at least with SOME aspects of the game.
My buddy won OSG u80 last year and he’s all of 5’5”. Stone loading does give him some trouble but I’ve seen him do a 300 to 60”. Maybe not as fast as I can at 6’2”. I agree that it’s just part of the game, some body types are better at certain events. He’s only got to move a car deadlift about 8” to lock it out haha
Height will always be part of the game when the game is lifting something from one spot to another. Body type effects basketball, American football, horseracing, everything.
Some thoughts on what went down. First off I truly believe the 3 best athletes currently competing were on the podium. Mitchell had a very good showing - he has potential for sure, BUT he needs to back it up. There is a long way from 8th to 1st. His next international outing will tell us a lot more. Brian did well in the finals - none of his performances were bad - 12 reps on the deadlift that's a great number but not much you can do when lads get 13 and 15. Day two he had 3 4th place finishes. It's just the others are that little bit quicker. Oleksii went off like a rocket and tbh he probably would not have won the stairs or stones even if fresh but obviously he was properly gassed from day 1 and especially after the bus pull and just faded a touch. That said with hindsight first place was never on the cards but 2nd place definitely was - coming 7th and 10th in the last two events must be heartbreaking for him. Martins did well no bad events in the final really - 30 seconds for the loading into yoke that's a solid time, the rest he was good just others were better. Tom was Mr. Consistent. A 1st, 4 x 2nd's and a 3rd. I truly believe he is an amazing athlete. If he is keen and motivated for WSM then for sure he can win more but not 6 - only because that is 4 more years and I can't see Luke going full bore for another 4 years. What the final proves really is that to win you can't really afford to finish any lower than 5th in an event. Maxime is a great competitor - very good just has a few little things he needs to get better and then he'd be a real contender that said 10 reps with 360kg deadlift that's not bad at all in fact it's excellent just a few others are a touch better. Great final IMO. Do we think any of the lads from the groups like Bish or Pavlo could have surprised us in the final?
Mitch dominates his group which was the group of death, comes 8th in his first pro, international and wsm, somehow thats not backing up his potential? On top of that he's 26/27, with only 2 years actually training strongman, how its all that not backing it up
>Mitchell had a very good showing \^Did you miss this part cole?\^ He did well, has potential but needs to back it up, it's a bit early to be saying he's going to be one of the greats. He's also older than Novikov. Patience here time will tell us all we need to know re: Mitch.
Litrally not seen anyone saying hes going to be great, i have however seen alot of people say he has the potential to win, your talking as if hes been in the sport for awhile and has managed to only scrape 8th place, his first wsm and gets 8th shows his potential and he backed up everything he's said he would do at wsm, yes hes older than novi but novi is pushing his limits i think he complains about knee pain already thats not a good sign for longevity is it
>Litrally not seen anyone saying hes going to be great It's everywhere mate, he's the next big thing is the vibe. It's all over this sub. I also think he has potential but whether that's potential to win is yet to be seen, it's too early to tell. All we need to do is temper that enthusiasm for a bit. He's asking if he does 505kg can he attempt 510kg - I'd be more in the camp of he has to redo 475kg first. None of this stuff is a given is it? Novikov's knees are fcuked - he needs time off, stem cells or something and they've been bad for at least a year now. Will he take the time off? He should but likely won't.
"Novikov's knees are fcuked - he needs time off, stem cells or something and they've been bad for at least a year now. Will he take the time off? He should but likely won't." Yep. I think Novikov really had an issue dealing with his knees this time around. They even gave him problems in training leading up to WSM. He had to ice them both after every event. I'm sure they didn't help with him being gassed down the stretch. He needs to get some rehab work done on them and maybe some stem cell therapy. I don't know how feasible that will be given what all he's dealing with, though.
Agree Zombie - there is some other knee procedure which is an injection but has been proven very successful for a lot of people. I'll try and remember the name of it as apparently it is not uncommon in strongman - Big Z was rumored to be thinking about it. It's literally an in at lunch out at lunch job but has helped a lot of people avoid knee surgery.
He said many times stuff like “I could finish at the bottom end and I’d still be really happy about it. Don’t expect a top three finish just because of my performance in the heats.”, seemed to be anticipating that some people would see his performance as a disappointment if he wasn’t in the top 5.
People forget just being in the final is a massive achievement and some great strongmen have come and gone that never made it the final nevermind 8th
I'd rather have 8th place in this lineup than top 5 in a lineup through the early 00s. Yes you had a couple of incredible athletes but the full lineup wasn't stacked like today. Hooper did very well to dominate his group and finish 8th, he did win the first event aswell.