World Tour Finals 2025
The final show before World’s Strongest Man! Though… this event took place months AFTER WSM lol. This event will also feature the World Log Lift Challenge!
Callum Crozier – Scotland – Scotland’s Strongest Man 2025
Ryan Bennett – England – 8th at Britain’s Strongest Man 2023
Jack Osborn – England – World Log Lift Challenge Guest Lifter
Oleh Pylypiak – Ukraine – Giants Live debut
James Jeffers – Canada – Giants Live debut
Tim Buck – USA – Giants Live debut
Evans Nana – Ghana – 5th at World Tour Finals 2024
Andrew Flynn – England – 3rd at Britain’s Strongest Man 2025
Maxime Boudreault – Canada – 3rd at World’s Strongest Man 2021
Ondrej Fojtu – Czech Republic – 4th at Europe’s Strongest Man 2025
Gavin Bilton – Wales – 2nd at Britain’s Strongest Man 2024
Mateusz Kieliszkowski – Poland – 3rd at Europe’s Strongest Man 2025
Luke Richardson – England – Europe’s Strongest Man 2025
Tom Stoltman – Scotland – World’s Strongest Man 2021, 2022, 2024
An interesting line up of some big names such as TOM STOLTMAN, the 3 time WSM, then Luke Richardson, Mateusz, Fojtu, Bilton, Flynn and Boudreault who have all either won some major comps of placed on the podium a handful of times. Then we have a handful of newbies looking to show off what they can do!
Event 1 – World Log Lift Challenge
Similar to the deadlift world championships, only pressing a log overhead! The weight starts at 170kg and keeps going up until we have a winner. The current world record is 231kg, but I don’t see anyone beating it here today, or really coming that close. 220kg might be the winning lift here. Tom might be the best presser here, but I think 220kg is the most he’ll be able to manage on a log. Before his injuries, Kieliszkowski was one of the best too, but I don’t see him being able to out-lift Tom on this day. Jack Osborn being a guest lifter for this event only tells me he’s a powerful presser, so perhaps HE could surprise me and take the win. Guess we gotta wait and see! No Iron Biby sadly, who is the current record holder. The event is underway, and poor Callum was unable to lift 170kg to start with. Jeffers managed it but no further. A number of men managed 180kg but couldn’t get 190kg, including Kieliszkowski who I would have expected to do better, even if he’s not at his best right now. In fact, we just get informed that sadly his Achilles tendon is either re-injured or giving him issues, and he has to pull out of the entire competition. Hopefully he can come back again! Ryan Bennett the only man so far to life 190kg, with a number of men left to lift. First up for us to watch are Oleh from Ukraine, and Orborn from England. Easy lift from both men! Next out, its Richardson against big TOM! Tom should be good for this, while Richardson might struggle. And struggle he does, sadly. He looked good getting it too his chest, but he was off balance and had to drop it. Luckily, he gets another shot and makes the lift! Tom of course did it with ease. 200kg is the next weight, with Bennett, Oleh and Richardson all failing. Tom made it, with Fojtu and Osborn still to have their turn. Fojtu gets it up, not the most comfortable lift, but a lift nonetheless! Osborn managed it pretty easily, will be interesting to see how far he can go. 210kg now, and Tom is first up. He should be good for this and… no? He gets it to his chest but is unable to press it. He tries again, and does a little better, but on this day, 210kg is just too much for Tom. Fojtu is out next to attempt this, and its a number he has done previously, and it does it again today, making it look easier than his 200kg! Only Osborn left to lift, and he too makes 210kg look EASY. I haven’t seen weights go up this easily since Big Z! 220kg for Fojtu, which was my predicted winning weight. Fojtu again makes it look pretty damn easy! A new Under 23 world record! Orborn moves up to 222kg to break the current British record of 221kg set by Luke Stoltman. A little unsteady on his feet, but he gets it together and gets the lift! That’s the winning left for this year, as Orborn finishes up his competition, and everyone else remains to compete for the World Tour Final!
Event 2 – Load & Push
3 implements; a sandbag, a tire and an anvil for a combined total of 360kg, need to be lifted and moved down the 20m course and loaded into a giant wheelbarrow. And THEN they need to push the wheelbarrow back down the 20m course, all in the quickest time possible. So far, Oleh only managed 2 implements, while Boudreault and Bennett completed the course in a time of 52:96 and 51:58 respectively. Crozier, Jeffers and Flynn are the next trio out, and the first men we get to actually watch do this event! Flynn should do well, while the other 2 are pretty unknown to me. All 3 men go well, and its fairly equal for a while until Jeffers falls behind. Flynn takes the win in under 50 seconds, Crozier just over 50 seconds, and Jeffers almost a minute. Both Flynn and Crozier were faster than Bennett. Next trio is Buck, Nana and Bilton. Nana is fast, and should do well here. Bilton does tend to tire out in events like this though. No clue what Buck is capable of! Wow, Buck MANHANDLED the anvil, but its Nana who is able to take the lead with his speed. Bilton not too far behind them but definitely the slowest of the 3. Flynn’s time is safe, while Bilton is able to beat out Buck in the end. Lastly then, its Richardson, Fojtu and Stoltman. Richardson loves this type of event and he’s beating everyone so far. Tom is actually in third going into the final implement, but he could very well make up time on the wheelbarrow. Flynn’s time is JUST beaten by Richardson, while Tom is just over 51 seconds, and just over 52 for Fojtu. A great result for Richardson, while Fojtu and Stoltman end up half way down the scoreboard!
Event 3 – Carry & Drag
Firstly, a 240kg duck walk down a 10m course, and THEN drag a 350kg chain & anchor down a 20m course, all in the fastest time! A brutal event, but even more so after the Load & Push! Richardson should be good at this one too, and Tom as well. It all depends on how tired everyone is at this point in the show! 6 men have been and gone. Buck only managed 5.35m, which is a bad result for him after he did pretty well in the previous event. Unsure if he’s hurt or not. Oleh managed 26m in total. Then we have Bilton in 4th who completed the event in under 48 seconds, Fojtu in 35 seconds, Jeffers in 33 seconds and Bourdreault leading with just over 32 seconds. First trio to watch is Stoltman Vs Bennett Vs Crozier! Poor Crozier gets off to a bad start as he walks the WRONG WAY with the duck walk, and has to turn around. Stoltman finishes in just over 37 seconds, certainly not the kind of time expected from him, as so far 3 men are ahead with 3 left to go. Bennett finishes in just over 43 seconds, with Crozier in 49. Can the final trio of Flynn, Richardson and Evans do better? They all seem even, with Richardson taking a bump which cost him a second or two, and Nana is able to pick up the event win in 28.35 seconds! Flynn in just over 31 seconds for an impressive 3rd place finish, while Richardson still took 2nd place despite the fall, in a time of 29.85.
3 events down, and 2 to go. Lets check on the scores!
Luke Richardson looking in good form so far, 5.5 points ahead of his nearest rival. Nana and Flynn doing well on the previous 2 events have moved them up to those podium spots, while middling results for Fojtu and Stoltman are keeping them out of the top 3 places. However, anything can happen over the next two events. Oh, and we get confirmation of Buck withdrawing due to injury.
Event 4 – Wrecking Ball Hold
A massive 270kg wrecking ball needs to be held up in a deadlift position from a tall platform as long as possible! 5 men have been and gone. Oleh down in last, with just over 47 seconds, but surprisingly, Tom Stoltman is 4th currently with just over 48 seconds. Bennett above him with 51.29 seconds, then Bilton with an impressive 1 minute 10 seconds, and Crozier even better with 1 minute 17 seconds! First to join the action on TV is Fojtu and Jeffers. Also commentary mentions that Stoltman suffered a bicepts injury earlier in the year so that would explain him not being on top form if he’s just coming back from it. Both hold over a minute, with Jeffers dropping at 1 minute 7. Meanwhile Fojtu keeps going to 1 minute 31 seconds! That might be the winning time! Boudreault and Flynn are up next to try and beat that incredible time. 1 minute 1 for Boudreault, a great time normally but not in this company. Flynn continues on and… 1 minute 31 for him! But he WAS ever so slightly longer than Fojtu! Nana and Richardson are last, and it’ll take a lot of effort to win now. 1 minute 13 for Richardson. Nana continues on to 1 minute 19!
One event to go, so lets see the scores going into the final!
Luke Richardson still in first, but Flynn, Nana and Fojtu are still threats going into the final event. Tom sadly won’t be able to do better than 5th place.
Event 5 – Castle Stones
5 stones. Lift them onto platforms in the fastest time. Weighing from 120kg to 200kg. This is Tom’s best event so he should be able to finish high, even if the competition didn’t go his way. But he is coming back from an injury and apparently only decided a week prior that he was going to compete in the full show and not just the log lift challenge! Unless something goes wrong, I think Richardson will be able to take the competition win here as he is a good stone lifter. 5 men have been and gone, with Boudreault, Jeffers and Bilton all managing 5 stones. Bilton with the current best time of 29.98 seconds. Bennett against Stoltman to start things off for us to see, and Tom is making these stones look light. 23.52 seconds and I doubt that time will be beaten. Bennett got 4 in a good time of 21.05 seconds but the 5th stone is too much. Fojtu against Nana next, and its Fojtu leading the way, getting all 5 up in 29.16 seconds. A fast 4, but the 5th was a struggle. Nana with 4 in the same time as Bennett, and no 5th for him. I think that result will knock him off the podium unless Flynn and Richardson fail spectacularly here. Flynn makes a BIG mistake, with his first stone rolling off the platform, causing him to go pick it back up and load it. Richardson isn’t too fast, 31.03 seconds for all 5, but that does mean he wins the show. Flynn comes back with all 5 in 38 seconds. A good comeback after that first stone!
And there we have it! Richardson with another Giants Live win after becoming Europe’s Strongest Man earlier in the year. Fojtu with a great 2nd place finish, and Flynn with another 3rd place finish at a giants live too. He’s definitely one to watch in the future for Birtain. Nana misses out on a podium finish, but still impressive 4th place over TOM STOLTMAN. Tom did well too all things considering!
That’s it for the Giants Live shows, as the next episode will be HEAT 1 of the 2025 World’s Strongest Man!!!
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