No more qualifying. Only the 30 strongest men on the planet are here now to compete, and to prove THEY are the strongest!
Tom Stoltman – Scotland – World’s Strongest Man 2021 & 2022
Eddie Williams – Australia
Pa O’Dwyer – Ireland – 5x Ireland’s Strongest Man
Konstantine Janashia – Georgia – 4th Place WSM 2016
Bobby Thompson – USA – 9th place WSM 2021
Pavlo Kordiyaka Ukraine – – Europe’s Strongest Man 2023
A strong group to start us off! Tom Stoltman is the 2 time and reigning WSM. Janashia and Thompson have both made finals in the past. Kodiyaka has the momentum coming into this after winning Europe’s Strongest Man. Pa might not be considered a major threat but he has been looking and performing better and better in the last couple of years. Eddie Williams probably the least likely to make the final here but he has some strong events and could mess up the overall leaderboard if those events are here and he can get between other athletes! My predictions are that Tom will win the heat, and Kordiyaka will join him in the finals!
Event 1 – Loading Race
5 implements, all varying distances from the platform, need to be lifted and loaded in the quickest time possible! Williams, Kordiyaka and Stoltman are up first! Surprisingly its Tom that is falling behind, as Williams is actually the quicker until he drops the 3rd implement. Tom catches up but almost ends up in 3rd after Williams looks to have overtaken him again, but drops the last object at the platform. Kordiyaka takes the win here, but we still have 3 men to go! And those 3 are of course O’Dwyer, Janashia and Thompson. Thompson looking much fitter than ever, which should help him here. So far it is, as he is around 1 object ahead of everyone the entire time, but as we saw from Williams, once mistake can cause major problems. Luckily he doesn’t have any issues, but is also unable to beat Kordiyaka and Stoltman.
Event 2 – Deadlift Machine
An old favourite is back! 6 massive barrels are loading in one at a time, making each lift heavier and heavier, from 280kg to 380kg. A little different though as reps are what matters, not time, and if you lift all barrels, you can continue going to get even more reps! Tom coming second in the first event won’t have sat well with him, but at least here he knows he can beat Kordiyaka who is not a great deadlifter. First up was Eddie Williams with 5 reps, followed by O’Dwyer who also got 5. Janashia then got 6 reps for current first place. Now we join the action with Bobby Thompson, and he looks good all the way through, finishing all barrels with 7 reps in total! Now for Stoltman who will be aiming for 8 reps, knowing that Kordiyaka will not be able to beat him. However, he might not get there are he really struggled on the 6th rep and that’s it for the champ. He still has over 30 seconds, so a quick break and another attempt but he can do no more. Taking 9 months off definitely will have knocked off some of his pure static strength, plus the deadlift machine is different to lifting on a regular bar. Finally its Kordiyaka and after 5 lifts he knows he’s done. He’ll finish tied for 4th place while Tom is tied for 2nd. Good win for Bobby!
Event 3 – Log Ladder
As Bobby Thompson sits on top in the points, he now has a great event to hopefully ensure another 1st place finish. 5 logs weighing between 125kg and 180kg must be lifted in order in the quickest time possible. Thompson has the American record in log press, so we know he can get the weights up, but it will all come down to time. His new fitter physique is likely going to play a factor here too! Meanwhile Tom is great at this type of event, having won the Log Ladder at WSM in 2020, beating the likes of his brother Luke, Novikov and a few other big pressers. Does he still have it in him to get the job done after taking all that time off? First up, we have Williams against O’Dwyer. Not expecting them to get all 5, I’d say 3 from each, all coming down to time for who gets the win over the other. Pa is quicker on the third, but they both get it. Now can they manage a 4th lift? Pa is unable to get it, but Eddie does! He should be extremely pleased with that lift! Next its Janashia and Kordiyaka. Kordiyaka is good at this, and Janashia USED to be very good until an injury a few years ago. 4 so far in a very good time for Pavlo, while Janashia just can’t get the 4th lift. Kordiyaka keeps on going and yes, he makes the 5th lift, giving Tom and Bobby a time to aim for. And what’s this? Janashia took a short rest and gets the 4th lift! That might be the best lift he’s done since his injury in 2019! 46 seconds is the time to beat overall though, so now to find out if Tom and Bobby can do it. Bobby is making things look easy with his power AND speed. Tom is going well but looks slow compared to the American. However its Tom that makes the 5th lift IN the fastest time, while Bobby looks to have injured his leg attempting to clean the log to his chest. Hopefully its just a bit of cramp and not something serious. Tom definitely needed this victory!
After 3 events, lets take a look at the overall scores!
Tom is now 1.5 points ahead of Bobby, with Pavlo only a point behind Bobby. 3 events left and its still all to play for, especially when the next event is a terrible one for Tom, and an excellent one for Pavlo!
Event 4 – Conan’s Wheel
At Europe’s Strongest Man, we sav Pavlo destroy the old world record on this event. Meanwhile Tom just isn’t very good at this, so he’ll need to try his best to stay ahead of the others, leaving Pavlo on his own to likely win anyway. First up is Pa, with 722 degrees. Then Janashia at 633 degrees, and finally Williams at 614 degrees. Now for Bobby Thompson, who has a good chance to really gain some points over Tom. He manages 649 degrees, leaving him in current 2nd place. The world record holder Pavlo Kordiyaka is up now, and he just needs to beat Pa’s distance and he should be good for 1st unless Tom somehow pulls out a miracle. He is struggling earlier than expect, but still makes it to 742 degrees and 1st place. Finally, the WSM Tom Stoltman. He knows what he has to do, and that’s just get as many points as he can to avoid finishing last and putting the pressure on him going into the final event. Around the 500 degrees mark it begins to slip down his arms, and he doesn’t make it much further before having to drop it. Last place for him.
Event 5 – Kettlebell Toss
Now we have an event that Tom can gain points back on. 7 huge kettlebells ranging from 20kg to 30kg have to be thrown over a 4.5m bar in the quickest time. Tom is excellent at this due to his power and height, but Pavlo also has a great build for this event. Williams was first, and got an impressive 6 over the bar. O’Dwyer also with 6 but in a better time. We join the action with Janashia, and he’s starting off really well, getting the first few well over the bar, then failing the final bell on his first attempt, then again on the second attempt. That is likely the end of his run here as they rarely get it over after missing so many times. Yup, that’s it for him, but he got 6 over in under 20 seconds, which is a fantastic time. Tom is up next, looking to dominate this event and take back 1st place. He is about a second slower than Janashia on 6, expecting to get all 7 over, but he too fails on the final bell! Definitely not the result he wanted, however it all depends on what Bobby and Kordiyaka do now. Bobby is up first and he’s going really well until he misses the 5th bell, forcing a second attempt which is successful, followed by a miss on the 6th bell but a successful second attempt. He has completely run out of energy for the 7th. Currently 4th place for him, which is good for Tom. Lastly, its Pavlo, and he could shock everyone with all 7. In fact, he does 6 so fast he doesn’t NEED to do the 7th, but he gives it a try anyway (only to fail but it doesn’t matter!).
Lets check out the scores going into the final event!
The Conan’s wheel event was the game changer for this heat, allowing Pavlo to win the heat and avoid the stone off. This means Bobby and Tom will go head to head for the second place in the finals, and unless something bad happens to Tom, Bobby is likely not making it.
Event 6 – Stone Off
We have the castle stones, ranging from 140kg to 180kg, but instead of placing them on a platform, the athletes have to pass them over a bar to each other. Once they both pass a stone over to each other once, they move onto the next stone. This continues until either 1 guy fails to put it over the bar in the allotted time, or they get to all 5 stones and continue passing the heaviest stone until one man is unable to do it. Last year, Bobby couldn’t even get the first stone over the bar due to some issues with the tacky on his arms. No problem this time, but that just means the weight of the stones will keep going up, and Tom will keep getting stronger and stronger. They both get a few stones over, but then the leg that he seemed to hurt in the log ladder came back into play here, and Tom moves on to the final to defend his title!
So, Tom didn’t win the heat like I predicted, but he and Pavlo are the two going into the finals, and winning the heat doesn’t automatically mean you’ll do better in the finals as we have seen in the past from Tom when he first won WSM! Another disappointing Stone Off for Bobby, but he should be back again next year for revenge!!!
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