Tom Stoltman and Eddie Willams have qualified for the final, and now 5 more athletes are looking to join them, but only 2 can make it!
Wesley Derwinksy – Canada – 6th at World’s Strongest Man 2024
Paddy Hanynes – 2nd at Europe’s Strongest Man 2025
Mitchell Hooper – Canada – World’s Strongest Man 2023
Bryce Johnson – USA – 2nd at The Strongman Open 2025
Mathew Ragg – New Zealand – 4th at World’s Strongest Man 2024
With only 25 men instead of 30 this year, every heat is looking to be stacked and this one is no different. The WSM from 2 years ago Mitchell Hooper, who has been on the run of a lifetime the last couple of years, is no doubt the heavy favourite not just in the heat but for the title. Derwinsky and Ragg both made the final last year and wouldn’t look out of place in the final again. Haynes has been improving every single show and is good at everything except for overhead. Then we have newcomer in Bryce Johnson, who would look great later in the year at The Strongman Open, so unsure if that was after months of improvement or if he’s fully capable of such a good result here too!
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! A great event for Hooper, and Haynes and… well, honestly everyone in this heat is good at this type of event! I still think Hooper and Haynes are likely to be 1st and 2nd, but it could be close between all 5 men. First up, its Paddy Haynes against Mitchell Hooper! They are both super fast, and neck and neck after 2 bags, but Hooper is just ahead on the 3rd pickup. Under 40 seconds for Hooper, and 41 seconds for Haynes. Next up, Ragg up against Derwinsky, 2 men who also made the final last year. Its Derwinsky who picks up the sacks a little easier, and thus puts him slightly ahead in the first 2, but Ragg makes a comeback on the 3rd. And then it isn’t even close on the 4th, with Ragg finishing 6 seconds quicker. Neither man beat Mitchell or Haynes though. Bryce Johnson is last, and has to go it alone. He’s a MASSIVE man at over 400lbs, and can move fast as well. But will his fitness be up to scratch for this type of event? He goes well, but fumbles on the final sack, which costs him a few seconds. He finishes in around 51 seconds, but had potential to beat Derwinsky had he not had trouble picking up that final one. Hooper off to the great start everyone expected, as it Haynes!
Event 2 – Deadlift for Reps
350kg deadlift for reps! Something I’ll be saying for basically every event; this should be good for Hooper. Haynes is pretty good at deadlift for reps too, and Ragg as well. Derwinsky and Johnson I’m unsure about. Johnson is up first, and he got a massive 7 reps which was good enough for 1st place in the previous heat! Ragg against Derwinsky now, and that marker of 7 reps is going to be very hard to match and beat. Both men get to 7 reps, with Derwinsky doing it faster. They both try for 8, but neither man can do it on this day. Will Hooper or Haynes manage 8? Time to find out. Both are going well, and its Haynes who gets to 7 first, with Hooper matching him. 20 seconds left to try for an 8th, and Hooper tries and FAILS. Haynes goes for it and GETS IT! Haynes is exhausted and needs oxygen, but he managed to beat not just Hooper here, but all 9 men so far from the first 2 heats!
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! Blah blah blah suits Mitchell Hooper. Ragg should do well, and Bryce looks like a POWERHOUSE so he could finish high as well. This is NOT good for Haynes though, as overhead is his one weakness. Johnson out first, and he got 6 reps in just under 66 seconds. Ragg against Derwinsky yet again. Derwinsky quicker on the dumbbell, and he looked good on the log but Ragg came along and made it look SIMPLE. The circus barbell proves to be a challenge to them, with both men struggling to get it to their shoulders. Ragg manages it but cannot press it. Derwinsky does though! But neither man is able to better Johnson. 4 reps for Ragg, and 5 for Derwinsky. Haynes and Hooper finish us off, and it all comes down to what Haynes can do here. 4 for Ragg on paper would be a last place finish, but will Haynes be able to beat it? Hooper gets 4 reps before Haynes finishes 2, then makes the circus barbell look so easy considering how much trouble the previous 2 men had with it. Haynes manages 4 reps, which is better than people would have expected. Hooper gets all 7 reps but really takes his time to lock out. Haynes gets a 5th rep, and does it FASTER than Derwinsky, giving him an incredible 3rd place finish in his worst event!
3 events down and 2 more to go, so lets check on the overall scores!
Hooper in 1st place, but only half a point ahead of Haynes who has done extremely well to remain 4.5 points ahead of his nearest rival even after his worst event. Just like Heat 1, 2 of the favourites to battle it out for a place in the final are doing the worst, but there is still time to make up enough points!
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! Hooper tends to be good at everything so I’d expect a good result from him here, but nobody has the crazy height of Tom Stoltman from Heat 1, so I don’t know if anyone here will be able to do all 10. Ragg went out first alone, and he did an impressive 9 sacks! Derwinsky and Haynes up against each other next, and they both go through 6 with ease. Derwinsky manages 9 in the current fastest time, while Haynes sadly gets stuck on 6. A last place here could be devastating after he finished well in his worst event previously. Hooper and Johnson go last, and while they both go well, Hooper misses an early one, preventing him from being able to do all 10. 8 in total for Hooper, not the result he would have wanted, while Johnson only manages 4, which Haynes will be pleased about.
One event left, so lets see the scores!!!
Hooper on top still, but not looking like the dominant force he has done for the last 12 months. Haynes is still in a very good position, 2.5 points ahead of his nearest rival and only 1.5 behind Hooper. Derwinsky and Ragg both still in with a chance at making the final though, so Haynes cannot hold back!
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. Only 1 man from heat 1 managed all 4 stones, so we know its a difficult event. Impossible to really say who will do well here or not as its very unlike other stone lifting events, and even incredible stone lifters like Tom Stoltman struggle here. Johnson again went up first, and he managed 2 stones, which is pretty good from what we’ve seen thus far. He won’t make the final, but considering this was his first major show and he would go on to do well later in the year, he could be someone to look out for next year! Ragg is out next, and he’s really struggling with the first stone. He looks to have it but is unable to press it fully out. He gives it a second try and very nearly gets it, but that’s enough for him. He will 0 on the event, and he has no chance to make the final this year. Bad for him, but a lifeline for Haynes who might very well 0 on this too. Next though its Derwinsky, who can still make the final with a good result. Unfortunately for him, he too is simply unable to press the stone, and that means Haynes goes into the final without having to do anything. This shows us just how difficult this event is, and how well Andrade was to be the only man thus far to finish it across 2 heats. Haynes is next, and he’s already in the final, but every point counts going into the final this year so he will still want to try and get a lift. Despite being a poor overhead lifter, he does in fact manage to get the stone up! Next part is the stone to shoulder, and he manages it too! Now for the carry part, which should be good for him but after the first 2 stones he could be tired out. He completes this part, but runs out of time to attempt the final stone. An incredible performance from Haynes who will be in the final!!! Now all that is left, is Mitchell Hooper. He, too, has already qualified, but he’ll want to at the very least beat what Tom Stoltman did here. He makes the stone press look easy, and in around 20 seconds he’s finished the 2nd stone too. The stone carry is no problem, and finally he loads up the big 181.5kg stone in under a minute! He destroys Andrade’s time!
As expected, Hooper makes it through the final, though not as dominating as usual. Haynes in the end made it through with a 6.5 point lead, and he has looked fantastic the entire time, even making his bad events look not too bad! Overall, points-wise, Stoltman leads the way with 22.5, but Haynes manages to keep above Williams. Still unclear on HOW the points carry over fully into the final as I assumed it was overall from the heats but they keep mentioning how each event is being counted up too. Guess we’ll just have to wait and see!
OK so they just put this graphic up, and I’m not sure how Hooper is ahead of Stoltman. I’ll have to look things up. Right then, so in the first event, Hooper was just slightly faster than Stoltman. 2nd event, they are tied. 3rd event, Stoltman was faster. 4th event, Stoltman AND Williams are ahead of Hooper. 5th event, Hooper was better than everyone, and Stoltman was last out of all 4 men so I can only assume that’s how Hooper manages to beat out Tom overall. Would be nice if they fully explained this new format instead of just posting numbers and hoping we know why they are the way they are!!!
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