Time to really get into the thick of things now as the HEATS begin. 25 men across 6 heats, 2 from each will make the final, to determine the Strongest Man in the World!
There is also a format change this year. In the heats, everyone earns points as usual, however… their overall points will be compared to everyone else in the finals, and they will be awarded points from 1st to last. For example, if Tom manages 21 points in the Heats, but Hooper gets 22 points, and Evan Singleton gets 20 points, and they are the top 3 scoring athletes, they will head into the finals with 9, 10 and 8 points respectively. At least, I think that’s how it works! This should also prevent the likes of as Mitchell Hooper or Tom Stoltman choosing to not do the final event just because they have already qualified. This time they will want to get as many points as possible to ensure they get off to a good start in the final!!!
Austin Andrade – Mexico – 7th at World’s Strongest Man 2024
Thomas Evans – USA – 3rd appearance at World’s Strongest Man
Jaco Schoonwinkel – South Africa – 2nd at The Strongman Classic 2025
Tom Stoltman – Scotland – 3x World’s Strongest Man (2021, 2022, 2024)
Eddie Williams – Australia – 5th at The Strongman Open 2025
A stacked line up of 3 formal finalists, and of course one of them is the current reigning and 3 time WSM Tom Stoltman! I expect him to make the final, with Jaco and Andrade battling it out for second place.
Event 1 – Loading Medley
4 130kg sandbags are placed along a 20m course, with each needing to be carried and loaded into the back of a truck in the quickest time possible! An excellent event for Tom, and this could be decent points for Eddie Williams too as he is a fast athlete. Jaco and Evans are first up, and I’d probably give the edge to Jaco here. They are neck and neck to begin with but Jaco drops the 2nd bag while loading it and that costs him valuable time, allowing Evans to take the win, but not by much. Had Jaco not dropped the 2nd bag he would have won. 48.58 seconds for Evans, 50.34 seconds for jaco. Next, its Andrade up against Stoltman. Tom manhandles the sandbags, just ripping them off the ground and launching them into the truck with ease. He manages it in UNDER 40 seconds for an easy current 1st place. Andrade is slower, managing over 50 seconds for current last. Williams is out last on his own. He doesn’t come close to Tom, but he is good enough for 2nd place overall!
Event 2 – Deadlift for Reps
350kg deadlift for reps! Stoltman is good at this, but perhaps Andrade is the favourite here. He’s up first due to coming in last in the previous event, so he’ll be desperate to make up as many points as possible here. 5 reps for him, and he has to take a break, and isn’t able to come back to do any more. The heat + his body weight + deadlifting 350kg definitely took its toll on him. Not the result he would have wanted, but who knows, the others might struggle even more. Evans and Jaco are next out, and now they have a target to try and beat. Less than 20 seconds and both men match 5 reps, and then continue on to 6 reps. Jaco spends about 10 seconds trying to lock out a 7th rep but is unable, and Evans cannot manage more than 6 either. Great effort from them both. Lastly then its Tom against Eddie. Both men reach 6, with Tom taking a long break before managing a 7th, but Williams got to 7 as well, and before Tom too! That’s enough for both of them, taking joint 1st place. Eddie isn’t well known as a deadlifter for reps but matching Tom Stoltman and taking joint 1st is a massive result for him. Andrade and Jaco both down the table again, and its looking like Eddie is the new favourite to join Tom in the finals!
Event 3 – Overhead Medley
Time to lift heavy things overhead! Start with a 90kg dumbbell that has to be lifted with one arm over your head TWICE, then onto a 145kg log for 2 reps, and then a 154kg circus barbell for 2 reps, and lastly a 168kg axle! Again, this should suit Tom extremely well, while perhaps giving Austin Andrade a lifeline for the final. Unsure how well the others will do at this type of event though. Again, Andrade is first up, and he gets through the dumbbell easily enough. Log is easy as well, but he’s just going too slow to perhaps get good points. 1 minute 13 for all 7 reps, just barely within the time limit, but he has done it. Now he’ll have to hope the others don’t manage all 7 reps, as there isn’t much time for them to complete all 7 and be slower. Jaco and Evans take their turn next, and Evans looks like he’ll easily finish this course. Jaco is struggling, perhaps because this is the event that injured him back in the 2023 WSM Final. Evans makes it to the Axle with plenty of time left, and he does indeed beat Andrade in 1 minute 5 seconds. Jaco however is having a bad time, only managing 5 reps. Williams Vs Tom once again, and Tom knows the time he needs to beat. A little slip on the first dumbbell but he recovers well and continues on. He blasts through everything to make it to the Axle, and he picks up the event win with ease! Williams has his first bad event, coming in last with only 4 reps.
3 events down and 2 more to go, so lets check on the overall scores!
Tom firmly in 1st place, with Evans and Williams tied for second ahead of the 2 favourites to compete for the place in the Final behind Tom! At this point I don’t think Andrade is capable of making the final at all even if he wins the next 2 events, unless something was to go horribly wrong for both Evans and Williams. Jaco likely the same too. So the only real question is will it be USA or Australia joining Scotland in the final?
Event 4 – Titan’s Toss
A whole new event for WSM, and one that looks to be extremely difficult. 10 14kg sacks to be thrown over a 12f bar in the quickest time… only the sacks are all at different distances away from the bar! The first one will be 7m away, and the last will be 12m away. So they will have to figure out how to get both the distance and the height when throwing, and it’ll change with every sack! Tom is world class at throwing events, but being such a new variation of it, who knows what might happen! Eddie Williams is first up on his own, and he’s doing very well do far with the first 6 sacks. He manages the next 2, but cannot finish the final 2. No clue how this result will hold up, but it was a great effort from him! Andrade is next out up against Jaco. Both men do well at first, but they both only manage 7, so Eddie’s 8 keeps him in good points with only 2 men left! Finally then its Stoltman against Evans. Tom looks unstoppable here, getting all 10 with EASE. Evans gives it his best but he too only manages 7 like the 2 men before him, and Eddie Williams takes another high place finish, keeping his dream of making the final alive!
One event left, so lets see the scores!!!
Tom Stoltman has qualified for the final, but given the new format, he will still want to get as many points as possible in the last event. So far he has only lost out on half a point, because he tied with 1st in the deadlift for reps! Meanwhile Eddie Williams is going great, 2 points ahead of Evans going into the final event. Evans still in with a chance though! Jaco and Austin are unable to qualify.
Event 5 – Natural Stone Medley
No perfectly shaped stones here! Firstly they’ll have to press a 123kg stone overhead, then lift a stone to their shoulder weighing 158kg. A 176kg stone needs to be carried, and lastly they need to load a 181.5kg stone. Considering most of them can load a 200kg atlas stone, that final stone should be easy, but the shape of it will likely cause them some trouble! Tom is a fantastic stone lifter, be it atlas or natural, so really it all depends on what Williams and Evans can do! Andrade went out first and was able to finish on a high, managing all 4 stones in 1 minute 25 seconds. Jaco was next, but he only managed 1 stone. Now we join the action with Evans taking his turn. Evans is a great presser, but the shapes of these stones not being perfect proves to be a struggle for him, and he just cannot seem to get even the 1st stone up. His chances of making the final are gone, with Williams going to go through no matter what he does, I believe. He’s out next, and as long as he gets the 1st stone up he is guaranteed a final spot, and yes, he gets it! Normally he could finish there and be happy qualifying, but the more points he gets the better he’ll be going into the final. The 2nd stone goes up to his shoulder easily enough, and its onto the third stone that has to be carried. He doesn’t do it the entire distance, but it doesn’t matter because the Australian is going to the World’s Strongest Man Final!!! Lastly then, its Big Tom, and he’ll be looking to do all 4 in as quickly a time as possible. Under 10 seconds for the 1st stone, but then he struggles on the second stone. It takes him almost an entire minute to do it, but he does manage it out of sheer determination. That’s it from him though, and he’ll take his first none 1st place result in the heat!
And there we go; Tom and Eddie are in the final. Stoltman with 22.5 points overall, which will be difficult to beat, but it can be done, and might be done tomorrow when Mitchell Hooper takes on 4 other athletes!
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