The 10 best Strongmen have qualified for the final, so now it all comes down to which of them is THE strongest man in the world!!!
- Mitchell Hooper – Canada – 2023 World’s Strongest Man
- Tom Stoltman – Scotland – 2021 & 2022 World’s Strongest Man
- Luke Stoltman – Scotland – 2021 & 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man
- Wesley Derwinsky – Canada – 1st Time at World’s Strongest Man
- Evan Singleton – USA – 5th at World’s Strongest Man 2023
- Pavlo Kordiyaka – Ukraine – 6th at World’s Strongest Man 2023 & Europe’s Strongest Man 2023
- Mat Ragg – New Zealand – 7th place at World’s Strongest Man 2023
- Aivars Smaukstelis – Latvia – 2nd at Europe’s Strongest Man 2024
- Austin Andrade – Mexico – 1st Time at World’s Strongest Man
- Tristian Hoath – Canada – 1st Time at World’s Strongest Man
A good mix of strongman veterans and newcomers, but for me its all about Hooper and Tom Stoltman!
Event 1 – Giant’s Medley
A Super Yoke weighing 454kg, and a Frame at 330kg, need to be moved down a 20m course EACH in the fastest time! Tom and Mitchell are both excellent at this event, so it will all come down to how close everyone else can get to them! First up, its Derwinsky against Andrade, 2 of the 3 first timers for the final. Derwinsky is just ahead with the Yoke, but Andrade catches him up on the frame carry! A drop from both, but its Andrade who gets over the line first. Derwinsky loses grip near the end and JUST makes it within the 1 minute time limit. Luke Stoltman and Pavlo Kordiyaka, 2 men who have won Europe’s Strongest Man, go head to head next. Luke drops the Yoke once, but is able to close the gap at the line. The frame proves to be difficult for both of them; Pavlo’s grip completely goes near the start, while Luke is able to go a few metres and no more. Not good results for athletes we have come to expect more from. Hoath and Smaukstelis have been and gone, with neither man being able to finish the course, though Hoath did better as he is currently in 3rd place. Mat Ragg and Evan Singleton are against each other now. Singleton makes the Super Yoke look EASY, and if half way down the course with the Frame before Rag finishes the Yoke. A super fast time for Evan, however a big scare for the American who gets his foot trapped under the frame when he puts it down. Hopefully he can continue on. Ragg is another man unable to finish the course. Lastly then, its the top 2; Hooper Vs Stoltman. They have the time of 30 seconds from Evan Singleton to beat, and if anyone can do it, it would be these two. Hooper is off like a ROCKET, and despite dropping too early, is still way ahead of Tom. The Frame proves to be difficult even for the WSM, and Tom is able to capitalise and beat him! Only good enough for 3rd place, but Hooper can’t even finish the course which is probably the biggest surprise! Good news is that Singleton seems to be ok. Phew!
Event 2 – Max Axle
The bar will start at 170kg, and while not the biggest weight for most of the athletes, the Axle bar is notoriously difficult to clean to the shoulders, so even though most of the strongmen can do these types of weights, the bar can prove to be difficult. This is an event where Hooper can get points back, as he is great overhead, and as previously mentioned, he would go on to break the world record in this event a few months following WSM! Tom is also great at this, along with Singleton, so we could start to see who the big 3 are after this one! Avairs and Wesley were unable to lift the starting weight. Moving up to 180kg, Mat Ragg was unsuccessful. 190kg was easy for Pavlo, followed by Luke, Hooper, Andrade, Evan and Tom. Hoath was unable to get that weight up. We join the action now at 200kg, with Pavlo going first. A little difficult to get to his shoulders, but he was strong with the press! Now for Luke Stoltman, and despite having great pressing power, he cannot lock out at the top. Super Hooper is next, and despite his hands being bloody from the first round, he makes 200kg look easy! Big Tom absolutely manhandles the bar to his shoulders, and while it looks like he won’t make it, he presses it again and it was no problem in the end. Mexican Eddie Hall as he’s become know, Andrade, is next to try. A good attempt, but he fails. Last to try 200kg is Evan Singleton, who has a hard time getting it to his shoulders, and by then he ran out of energy. 3 men are left; Tom, Pavlo and Mitchell. Kordiyaka has decided to bow out, leaving just Hooper and Stoltman to go for 210kg. A little unsteady on his feet, but Hooper is able to stand still and get the rep! Can Tom match that lift? Yes! He absolutely POWERS it overhead, something right out of Žydr?nas Savickas’ book! That lift was enough for him, leaving Hooper who decides he’d rather go for 1st on his own that take a share! 218kg, which would be a new world record… and he doesn’t quite get it. Don’t worry, he does in a few months!
Event 3 – Keg Toss
15kg keg needs to be tossed over a bar for height. If they get it over, the bar will continue to rise in height until we have a winner! Tom’s height gives him an advantage, but don’t think that shorter men can’t do better on the day! A shock in the first round at 6m, where Pavlo Kordiyaka is unable to get any of the 3 kegs over. Moving up to 6.5m, and Hoath is the only man to fail at that height. Round 3 moved the bar to 7m, which was too high for Luke Stoltman and Austin Andrade. 6 men moved on to round 4 and 7.5m, which was more than enough for Smaukstelis and Ragg. The final four are now moving on to 7.76m, which would be a new world record! Wesley Derwinsky is first up, and the first keg flies over for a new world record! Singleton is next to try and equal the record, and his first attempt is pretty poor. Much better on the second throw, but still not good enough. 3rd and final attempt and its nowhere near. Hooper is next, and after failing a world record in the previous event, he’ll absolutely be wanting to at least equal this one. First throw almost goes over, and the second one does! Down to Tom now. First time for him! 3 men equalling the new world record! What will the next height be, and can any of the 3 men get another new record? Derwinsky is up first to try and break 7.85m! First keg is a fail, second is close but also a fail, so its down to the third… and sadly its also a fail. Hooper next, and his first is also a fail. Second looked good, but not good enough. His third attempt looks the best, but like his fellow Canadian, it is also a fail. Can Tom get this new world record and take 1st place all on his own? So, so damn close on the first keg! And again on the second keg! One more keg left and… he’s out of energy. 3 men tied for first in the end.
We are at the halfway point now, so lets see how the leaderboard looks so far:
So its Tom Stoltman leading the pack so far, with Hooper 3 points behind, which isn’t bad considering his poor performance in event 1. Singleton looking good for 3rd, and only half a point behind Hooper which puts the pressure on the reigning champ!
Event 4 – Conan’s Wheel
Oh boy, here it comes. This event could be the undoing of Tom Stoltman if he isn’t careful! 250kg is the weight in the hands, and the athletes have to lift it, then walk around in a circle as long as possible! Pavlo is the record holder in this event, so expect big things from him! A handful of athletes have gone, with surprise surprise, Pavlo Kordiyaka leads the way with 922 degrees! Just the top 4 finishers from the last event to go, starting with Evan Singleton. His mishap in the first event, where the frame was on his foot, might hinder him here, but Evan is always determined to push through the pain regardless. Under 600 degrees for him, which places him in current 4th. Derwinsky next, and he doesn’t have quite the POWER BELLY that a lot of strongmen have, which should make this event a little easier for him. He goes beyond Evan, and finishes around 680 degrees for current 3rd place. Hooper time now, and while I don’t see him attempting to beat Pavlo, he’ll want to get as far as possible for second place and hope that Tom doesn’t beat him. In another shocker for Hooper, he looks to be really struggling around the 500 degrees mark, but he powers through and ends up over 800 degrees for current second! This is why he’s one of the best strongman on the planet right now! Only Tom left, and he has every target to beat. Will he try and beat Hooper, or settle for a 3rd place knowing he still has a few points over Hooper? 777 degrees for the big man, which is a phenomenal result considering how bad he was just a year ago!
Event 5 – Deadlift
360kg tires on the bar to be deadlifted as many times within the time limit. The weight might not be as crazy as Britian’s Strongest Man earlier in the year which had 400kg for reps, but after 4 brutal events, 360kg is going to feel like 460kg to these guys! While Hooper and Tom Stoltman will be favourites again, almost everyone in this final are very good at deadlift, so it all comes down to how much energy they have at this point! First up we saw Andrade and Smaukstelis, getting 6 and 3 reps respectively. Then it was Luke and Evan going head to head, ending in 4 and 5 reps respectively. The two rookie Canadians went after that, doing very well as Derwinsky matched the 6 reps from Andrade, and Hoath went one better for 7! We join the action now with Ragg and Tom Stoltman, knowing they have to beat 7 reps, and do even more to make sure the pressure is put on Hooper! Both men reach 7 before taking a break, and its Ragg who gets an 8th rep while Tom doesn’t! Not good for Tom as you just know Hooper will be aiming for 9 reps now. Hooper and Pavlo last up, and sadly this is not a good event for Pavlo, so its all about Hooper really. If he can get 9, that will put more points between him and Tom going into the final event. Hooper looks to be having a harder time than expected, due to his hands that were cut up pretty badly in the opening event. He runs out of time with ONLY 6 reps, which is fantastic news for the big Scot! Only 1 rep sadly for Pavlo.
One event left, and after that disappointing result for Hooper, its looking good for Tom Stoltman as his best event is still to come!
4 and a half points separate Tom and Hooper, which I don’t think many saw coming (myself included). It will take a monumental effort from Hooper to take the win overall now. Singleton currently holding on to that podium finish, but Ragg, Derwinsky and even Andrade are a little close for comfort. It all comes down to the Atlas Stones!
Event 6 – Atlas Stones
THE Strongman event finishes up the 2024 World’s Strongest Man. 5 massive stones, ranging in weight between kg and 210kg, need to be loaded on platforms in the fastest time. 6 men have been and gone, with nobody getting all 5 stones up as of yet. We join the action with Ragg against Singleton as they battle it out for 3rd place! Despite a potentially injured foot, Evan is going fast, while Ragg is looking tired. However, he catches Evan up on the 4th stone, and gets it up! A fast 3 MIGHT be enough to get him on the podium despite Ragg getting 4, as it was a slow 4. We’ll have to wait and see. Now is the real battle though. Tom Stoltman Vs Mitchell Hooper. Tom is looking like Tom, and getting these stones up no problem. Those injured hands are preventing Hooper from doing as well as usual, and yes, this does in fact mean that TOM STOLTMAN has done it!!!
Well we know who won, but what about 3rd place and the rest of the leaderboard?
And that is offically it. Tom Stoltman is a 3 time World’s Strongest Man!!! Hooper, despite those hand injuries, continues to be on good form and takes another podium place. Evan Singleton, after years of bad luck, and even some bad luck in the first event, should be thrilled that he has finally landed on the podium too! An incredible final, and it just makes me even more excited for next year as you just know Hooper will be coming for revenge!!!
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