Britain’s Strongest Man 2025
Here we go! 2025 Strongman Season (uhhh, on TV, anyway!) finally kicks off with the first Giant’s Live event, and as always, its Britain’s Strongest Man from all the way back in January! Now, I DID pay to watch the live stream of the show… but that was almost an entire year ago now and I legit cannot remember who wins this show, let alone what happened!
Matt Dimond – Wales – 2024 Wales’ Strongest Man
Chris Beetham – Scotland – Britain’s Strongest Man debut
Andrew Flynn – England – 2nd at England’s Strongest Man 2024
Sean Gillen – Ireland’s Strongest Man 2023 & 2024 (unsure on WHICH competitions he won as Cilléin Groom is also the 2023 and 2024 Ireland’s Strongest Man)
Shane Flowers – England – 4th at Britain’s Strongest Man 2024
Paddy Haynes – England – 10th at Britain’s Strongest Man 2024
Ben Glasscock – England – Britain’s Strongest Man debut
Andy Black – Scotland – Scotland’s Strongest Man 2020 & 2021
Luke Stoltman – Scotland – Europe’s Strongest Man 2021 & 2024
Gavin Bilton – Wales – 2nd at Britain’s Strongest Man 2024
Luke Richardson – Europe’s Strongest Man 2020
Adam Bishop – Britain’s Strongest Man 2020 & 2023
Missing the reigning 3 time BSM Tom Stoltman, but other than that it’s still a fantastic lineup with former 2 time champ Adam Bishop, Tom’s brother Luke who is the reigning Europe’s Strongest Man, former Europe’s Strongest Man Luke Richardson on his comeback trail after getting injured numerous times over the last few years, Gavin Bilton who was runner up last year, and some up and comers like Shane Flowers who keeps getting better, and Paddy Haynes who had a lot of buzz about him going into this show!
Event 1 – Steeplechase Medley
A 15m course, 3 150kg sacks to be loaded at the end of it. However, in the middle is a steeple, and each sack has to be thrown over it then picked back up again to be loaded at the other end of the course! This is a brutal event, which doesn’t often see many athletes get all 3 sacks loaded! First up, Dimond, Black and Glasscock. Glasscock managed to load all 3 (counted as 6, as they score it on the sacks being thrown over the steeple and then again when loaded) in just over 57 seconds. Dimond managed 5 in 1 minute 9, and Black got 5 in 1 minute 10. Next trio is Beetham, Haynes, and Gillen. Haynes should be good at this, and he gets off to a quick start! Gillen isn’t too far behind him, while Beetham struggles a little compared to them. Haynes finishes all 6 in under 48 seconds for current first. Gillen hits the wall after throwing the final sack over the Steeple, and the same for Beetham. 5 in 1 minute 3 for Beetham, and 5 in 48 seconds for Gillen. Flynn, Flowers and Bilton are next up. Bilton has a history with this event, succumbing to heat exhaustion at WSM last year. He’ll want to finish this year to prove a point! All 3 are going well, with Bilton being in front on the first sack, but dropping to last by the second sack. All 3 are exhausted, but Flowers gets his up in just under a minute, while Bilton around 1 minute 7, and Flynn manages to finish in around 1 minute 11. More people finishing than I was expecting! Final 3 time. Richardson, Stoltman and Bishop, the BIG 3 for this competition. Richardson is on his comeback trail after years of injuries. Bishop is coming back from an injury he picked up at WSM last year. Stoltman meanwhile is looking to rack up more competition wins so he isn’t overshadowed by his little brother! Richardson and Stoltman are neck and neck while Bishop is behind. It looks like Richardson is gonna take the event but Stoltman charges ahead! Meanwhile Luke takes a tumble, and as a result he runs out of time! Bishop meanwhile didn’t even make it past the Steeple for the final sack. So in the end, Paddy Haynes takes the win, with Stoltman getting a very good 2nd place finish. Richardson and Bishop way down the table!
As we go into event 2, we learn that Andy Black has had to withdraw from the competition, and Luke Richardson is taken away to hospital to get checked out. Hopefully its not another injury for him!
Event 2 – Deadlift Ladder
75 second time limit, and 5 bars to be deadlifted in a row, ranging from 300kg all the way up to 380kg! Bishop should be able to earn back some points here as he’s one of the better deadlifters on the planet. Bilton is typically good at this event as well, while Stoltman tends to burn out towards the end. 4 men have been and gone; Beetham managed 2, Dimon and Glasscock both lifted 4, but Glasscock was 10 seconds faster. Shane Flowers currently in 1st place with all 5 lifted in just under 40 seconds! We join the action with Bishop and Gillen going head to head. They are neck and neck most of the way, but the 4th rep is so easy for Bishop, sending him into the lead in this one on one battle. He races through the 5th, 10 seconds faster than Flowers! That will be a hard time to beat. Gillen is slower, but he too manages all 5, in a time of 49:13. Flynn Vs Bilton next, and its fairly easy for them with the first 3 lifts, but they aren’t going too fast. Onto the 4th, and Bilton is able to get it while Flynn is unable. Bilton goes for #5, gives it an attempt, then passes out for a few seconds, something we have seen before from him. Hopefully he’s ok and can continue. Stoltman and Haynes to finish off now, and Haynes is flying! 4 in a fast time, but he takes his time on the 5th, managing to get it up, in just over 40 seconds, which will leave him in 3rd I believe. Stoltman manages 4 in around 30 seconds. Bishop takes the win as expected!
Event 3 – Duck Walk into Farmers
A 200KG implement needs to be duck walked down a 20m course. Then they have to move back down the 20m course with a farmer’s walk, which is 160kg in each hand! This should be another good event for Paddy Haynes. 2 men have gone so far; Glasscock and Dimond. 59:23 for Dimond, and 31:78 for Glasscock which could be a decent time at the end of this event! Beetham and Flynn will go head to head next, and its Flynn who leads the way! He shatters the time of Glasscock, getting to the end in around 22 seconds! Beetham is unable to even start the farmer’s walk section. Bilton is back now against Luke Stoltman. Stoltman looked like he was doing to drop the farmer’s implements for a good half way down the course but he holds on and makes it in around 25 seconds. Bilton finishes in 31 seconds. Gillen and Haynes now, and as expected, Haynes flies down the course, but he makes a mistake on the farmer’s walk, dropping them twice, and finishes in just under 30 seconds. Gillen only makes it around 33m in total. Final then is Flowers and Bishop, and they are pretty even on the duck walk. Its close in the farmer’s too but a drop from Shane allows Bish to take the win, however neither are as fast as Flynn, who takes an event win!
After 3 events, lets check the points overall so far!
Haynes and Stoltman joint 1st right now with only 2 events left. Flowers and Bishop fighting for 3rd, but its pretty close with Flynn, Glasscock and Bilton all within reach of a podium position too if things go well for them in the final 2 events!
However, sadly, we have another athlete pull out… and its former 2 time BSM winner Adam Bishop. Its not entirely clear why, but it seems to be more of a mental state than any physical injury. Hopefully he can recover and come back better at another competition!
Event 4 – Log Press
Now for the log press, and its 160kg log to be pressed over head as many times in 60 seconds as possible. This is the biggest weakness for Paddy Haynes, while its a massive strength for Luke Stoltman. With Bishop withdrawing from competition, this event will really turn the scoreboard upside down. Beetham has been and gone, managing just 1 rep. Dimond went one further with 2. Gillen with 3, and Flowers with only 2. However, Haynes didn’t manage a single rep, and that might have ruined his chances of not only winning this competition, but even managing a podium finish. We join the action now with Glasscock and Bilton. They match each other rep for rep, with Bilton just a little slower but time doesn’t matter, only number of reps. In the end, 4 reps for Glasscock, and 3 for Bilton. Glasscock could be making a podium charge with Bishop being out and Haynes getting 0. Finally, its Flynn and Stoltman. Stoltman makes this event look easy, reaching 4 reps in 30 seconds, getting in an easy 5th to give himself 1st place, as Flynn manages 4 for joint 2nd.
One event left, so lets check the scores one last time!
That disaster for Haynes takes him down to tied 5th spot, while Stoltman’s win puts him miles ahead of everyone going into the final event. The other 2 podium spots are going to be fought over by Flowers, Flynn and Glasscock it seems. It does appear that once again a Stoltman will win BSM, only this time it’ll be Luke!
Event 5 – Castle Stones
It isn’t a strongman event if we don’t have some stones somewhere in the show! 5 stones ranging from 120kg to 200kg, to be placed on platforms in the fastest time! 5 men have been and gone, with Haynes getting all 5 up in a fast time for 25:33, and Bilton just behind him at 30:41, so Haynes will likely finish 5th place overall. A good finish, but if he was able to get even a single rep in the previous event, he could still have been in with a podium finish. Gillen, Beetham and Dimond have all been too, with 4, 3 and 1 stone respectively. Glasscock and Flynn are up now, as they battle for a podium spot. Flynn is in front, and eventually gets all 5 up while Glasscock only has 3. That guarantees a podium finish for Flynn. Glasscock is able to finish well by getting all 5 stones up in just under the 60 second time limit. Finally then, its Flowers and Stoltman. As long as nothing goes wrong, these will probably finish top 2. Both are quick to 4, matching each other, and Shane is just able to beat Luke to the 5th, but it doesn’t matter. They both did it in under 30 seconds, meaning they finish 1st and 2nd, with Luke of course taking his first Britain’s Strongest Man title!
No graphic for the Castle Stone results which sucks, but as we can see, Stoltman wins the competition, Flowers takes 2nd, and Flynn 3rd. An event win for Haynes bumps him up into 4th at least, only half a point off the podium, which he would have easily gotten on to if he didn’t 0 on the log press. This was a strange Britain’s Strongest Man, with 2 of the favourites going into the event pulling out. But that left the door wide open for less experienced athletes to take up the top half of the leaderboard, with the grizzled veteran Luke winning his first National Championship!
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