# 2023 World's Strongest Man

The 2023 World's Strongest Man was the 46th World's Strongest Man competition which took place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from April 19 to 23. The contest was won by Mitchell Hooper of Barrie, Ontario making him the first Canadian champion. Defending champion Tom Stoltman placed second, and Oleksii Novikov placed third.

## Participants

* Pavlo Kordiyaka
* Tom Stoltman
* Bobby Thompson
* Konstantine Janashia
* Pa O'Dwyer
* Eddie Williams
* Oleksii Novikov
* Luke Stoltman
* Gavin Bilton
* Thomas Evans
* Kristján Jón Haraldsson
* Fadi El Masri
* Mitchell Hooper
* Mathew Ragg
* Aivars Šmaukstelis
* Mateusz Kieliszkowski
* Graham Hicks
* Spenser Remick
* Jaco Schoonwinkel
* Brian Shaw
* Rauno Heinla
* Adam Bishop
* Kevin Faires
* Gabriel Rhéaume
* Trey Mitchell
* Evan Singleton
* Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð
* Mark Felix
* Paul Smith
* Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf
Originally, Pavlo Nakonechnyy of Ukraine and Cheick Sanou (Iron Biby) of Burkina Faso were set to compete in this competition, but both withdrew through injuries, being replaced by reserves Thomas Evans and Kristján Jón Haraldsson respectively. 2022 runner-up and 2019 champion Martins Licis elected not to compete this year, taking a year out of competition, and Maxime Boudreault, a finalist in the previous two WSM contests, was forced to withdraw with an injury from earlier in the year.
This year's competition featured 6 rookies, with Thomas Evans, Kristján Jón Haraldsson, Fadi El Masri, Mathew Ragg, Spenser Remick and Jaco Schoonwinkel all making their first appearance at the competition. Ragg and Schoonwinkel went on to make the final in their first WSM competition, with Ragg becoming the first New Zealander to qualify for the final since 1983, before the introduction of the groups. El Masri became the first man to represent Lebanon at WSM.
Prior to the competition, both Mark Felix and 4-time champion Brian Shaw announced that the 2023 WSM would be their final WSM contest. Felix would be eliminated in the group stage, and Shaw went on to make the final in his last WSM.
Rauno Heinla returned to WSM for the first time since 2011, ultimately taking 3rd place in his group. Two-time runner-up Mateusz Kieliszkowski made a much anticipated return to WSM for the first time since 2019, but disappointingly went out in the group stage for the first time in his career.

## Heat results
### Format

The 30 athletes were divided into 5 groups of 6 athletes, with 2 athletes from each group progressing to the final of 10. The winner of each group progressed to the final, and 2nd and 3rd in each group would then advance to a 'Stone Off', from which the winner would also progress.

### Events

* Loading Race: 5 implements. 1m 15 second time limit.
* Deadlift Machine: 7 lifts ranging from 290.3–385.5 kilograms (640–850 lb), once the seventh lift is completed the final weight was lifted for max repetitions. 1m 15 second time limit.
* Conan's Wheel: 200 kilograms (440 lb)
* Log Ladder: 5 logs weighing 124.8 kilograms (275 lb), 140 kilograms (310 lb), 158.8 kilograms (350 lb), 170.1 kilograms (375 lb), 181.4 kilograms (400 lb). 1m 15 second time limit.
* Kettlebell Toss: 7 kettlebells over a 4.57 metres (15.0 ft) bar. 60 second time limit.

### Heat 1

| # | Name | Event 1 Loading race | Event 2 Deadlift | Event 3 Log Ladder | Event 4 Conan's Wheel | Event 5 Kettlebell toss | Pts |
| 1 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | 1st - 5 in 41.38s | 4th - 5 reps | 2nd - 5 in 46.00s | 1st - 742 ° | 1st - 6 in 18.09s | 25 |
| 2 | Tom Stoltman | 2nd - 5 in 43.84s | 2nd - 6 reps | 1st - 5 in 41.56s | 6th - 598 ° | 3rd - 6 in 21.99s | 20.5 |
| 3 | Bobby Thompson | 3rd - 5 in 56.56s | 1st - 7 reps | 3rd - 4 in 25.83s | 3rd - 649 ° | 5th - 6 in 35.67s | 20 |
| 4 | Konstantine Janashia | 4th - 5 in 1m 1.10s | 2nd - 6 reps | 5th - 4 in 1m 8.35s | 4th - 633 ° | 2nd - 6 in 19.93s | 17.5 |
| 5 | Pa O'Dwyer | 5th - 5 in 1m 5.89s | 4th - 5 reps | 6th - 3 in 25.80s | 2nd - 722 ° | 4th - 6 in 31.71s | 13 |
| 6 | Eddie Williams | 6th - 5 in 1m 6.44s | 4th - 5 reps | 4th - 4 in 55.89s | 5th - 614 ° | 6th - 6 in 36.40s | 9 |
Stone Off
| Name | Nationality | Stones |
| Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 3 |
| Bobby Thompson | United States | 3 |

### Heat 2

| # | Name | Event 1 Loading race | Event 2 Deadlift | Event 3 Log Ladder | Event 4 Conan's Wheel | Event 5 Kettlebell toss | Pts |
| 1 | Oleksii Novikov | 1st - 5 in 52.15s | 1st - 6 reps | 3rd - 4 in 32.50 s | 1st - 897 ° | 6th - 1 in 9.56s | 23 |
| 2 | Luke Stoltman | 4th - 5 in 1m 2.78s | 2nd - 5 reps | 2nd - 5 in 52.76s | 3rd - 545 ° | 2nd - 6 in 49.35s | 21 |
| 3 | Gavin Bilton | 5th - 5 in 1m 3.01s | 2nd - 5 reps | 4th - 4 in 56.84s | 2nd - 557 ° | 1st - 6 in 19.90s | 20 |
| 4 | Thomas Evans | 3rd - 5 in 57.40 s | 2nd - 5 reps | 1st - 5 in 38.96s | 6th - 69 ° | 4th - 5 in 28.68s | 18 |
| 5 | Kristján Jón Haraldsson | 2nd - 5 in 54.18 s | 3rd - 4 reps | 5th - 2 in 16.28s | 4th - 524 ° | 3rd - 5 in 15.57s | 15.5 |
| 6 | Fadi El Masri | 6th - 4 in 49.57 s | 3rd - 4 reps | 6th - 2 in 17.43s | 5th - 70 ° | 5th - 4 in 20.61s | 7.5 |
Stone Off
| Name | Nationality | Stones |
| Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 7 |
| Gavin Bilton | United Kingdom | 7 |

### Heat 3

| # | Name | Event 1 Loading race | Event 2 Deadlift | Event 3 Log Ladder | Event 4 Conan's Wheel | Event 5 Kettlebell toss | Pts |
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | 1st - 5 in 42.05s | 1st - 8 reps | 1st - 5 in 39.51s | 1st - 636 ° | 2nd - 6 in 17.18s | 29 |
| 2 | Mathew Ragg | 3rd - 5 in 58.72s | 2nd - 7 reps | 2nd - 5 in 56.84s | 2nd - 628 ° | 3rd - 6 in 21.96s | 22.5 |
| 3 | Aivars Šmaukstelis | 2nd - 5 in 52.71s | 4th - 5 reps | 4th - 4 in 30.44s | 3rd - 575 ° | 4th - 6 in 25.41s | 17.5 |
| 4 | Mateusz Kieliszkowski | 5th - 5 in 1m 7.53s | 6th - 4 reps | 5th - 4 in 33.24s | 4th - 538 ° | 1st - 7 in 32.44s | 14 |
| 5 | Graham Hicks | 6th - 4 in 53.40s | 2nd - 7 reps | 3rd - 4 in 28.31s | 6th - 425 ° | 6th - 4 in 20.51s | 11.5 |
| 6 | Spenser Remick | 4th - 5 in 1m 7.15s | 4th - 5 reps | 6th - 4 in 38.79s | 5th - 470 ° | 5th - 5 in 24.31s | 10.5 |
Stone Off
| Name | Nationality | Stones |
| Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 8 |
| Aivars Šmaukstelis | Latvia | 8 |

### Heat 4

| # | Name | Event 1 Loading race | Event 2 Deadlift | Event 3 Log Ladder | Event 4 Conan's Wheel | Event 5 Kettlebell toss | Pts |
| 1 | Jaco Schoonwinkel | 1st - 5 in 47.10s | 4th - 6 reps | 2nd - 4 in 34.77s | 1st - 713 ° | 3rd - 6 in 47.32s | 24 |
| 2 | Brian Shaw | 3rd 5 in 53.70s | 1st - 8 reps | 1st - 4 in 33.99s | 5th - 411 ° | 1st - 7 in 48.45s | 23.5 |
| 3 | Rauno Heinla | 2nd - 5 in 51.41s | 1st - 8 reps | 3rd - 3 in 21.60s | 3rd - 572 ° | 5th - 5 in 44.51s | 20.5 |
| 4 | Adam Bishop | 4th - 4 in 43.12s | 3rd - 7 reps | 6th - 3 in 33.25s | 6th - 292 ° | 2nd - 6 in 32.29s | 14 |
| 5 | Kevin Faires | 6th - 3 in 1m 5.30s | 5th - 5 reps | 4th - 3 in 28.93s | 2nd - 636 ° | 4th - 5 in 34.09s | 13.5 |
| 6 | Gabriel Rhéaume | 5th - 4 in 51.03s | 5th - 5 reps | 5th - 3 in 32.96s | 4th - 476 ° | 6th - 3 in 14.00s | 9.5 |
Stone Off
| Name | Nationality | Stones |
| Brian Shaw | United States | 11 |
| Rauno Heinla | Estonia | 11 |

### Heat 5

| # | Name | Event 1 Loading race | Event 2 Deadlift | Event 3 Log Ladder | Event 4 Conan's Wheel | Event 5 Kettlebell toss | Pts |
| 1 | Trey Mitchell | 3rd - 5 in 1m 6.64s | 1st - 8 reps | 1st - 5 in 39.44s | 3rd - 523 ° | 1st - 7 in 34.42s | 26 |
| 2 | Evan Singleton | 1st - 5 in 46.90s | 2nd - 6 reps | 2nd - 4 in 35.48s | 2nd - 589 ° | 3rd - 6 in 28.81s | 24.5 |
| 3 | Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð | 2nd - 5 in 56.41s | 4th - 5 reps | 3rd - 4 in 39.93s | 1st - 629 ° | 2nd - 6 in 27.66s | 22.5 |
| 4 | Mark Felix | 5th - 4 in 54.32s | 2nd - 6 reps | 6th - 1 in 7.58s | 5th - 470 ° | 4th - 4 in 42.66s | 12.5 |
| 5 | Paul Smith | 4th - 4 in 44.79s | 6th - 4 reps | 4th - 4 in 45.84s | 4th - 518 ° | 6th - 1 in 28.62s | 11 |
| 6 | Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf | 6th - 3 in 40.63s | 4th - 5 reps | 5th - 3 in 22.34s | 6th - 143 ° | 5th - 2 in 23.65s | 8.5 |
Stone Off
| Name | Nationality | Stones |
| Evan Singleton | United States | 8 |
| Eyþór Ingólfsson Melsteð | Iceland | 8 |

## Finals events results
### Event 1: Shield Carry

* Weight: 190 kilograms (420 lb) for distance
| # | Name | Nationality | Distance | Event Pts | Overall Pts |
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 64.80 metres (212.6 ft) | 10 | 10 |
| 2 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 63.15 metres (207.2 ft) | 9 | 9 |
| 3 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 55.87 metres (183.3 ft) | 8 | 8 |
| 4 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 50.83 metres (166.8 ft) | 7 | 7 |
| 5 | Evan Singleton | United States | 48.30 metres (158.5 ft) | 6 | 6 |
| 6 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 46.59 metres (152.9 ft) | 5 | 5 |
| 7 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 44.62 metres (146.4 ft) | 4 | 4 |
| 8 | Brian Shaw | United States | 39.10 metres (128.3 ft) | 3 | 3 |
| 9 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 37.65 metres (123.5 ft) | 2 | 2 |
| 10 | Jaco Schoonwinkel | South Africa | 15.92 metres (52.2 ft) | 1 | 1 |
* ↑ Pavlo Kordiyaka did not cross the line during the turn after his second length of the course and was issued a 19.8-meter penalty. Had the penalty not been issued, Kordiyaka would have been the event winner.

### Event 2: Deadlift

* Weight: 353 kilograms (778 lb) for repetitions
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
| # | Name | Nationality | Repetitions | Event Pts | Overall Pts |
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 8 | 10 | 20 |
| 2 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 7 | 7.5 | 15.5 |
| 2 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 7 | 7.5 | 14.5 |
| 2 | Brian Shaw | United States | 7 | 7.5 | 10.5 |
| 2 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 7 | 7.5 | 9.5 |
| 6 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 6 | 5 | 14 |
| 7 | Evan Singleton | United States | 5 | 3.5 | 9.5 |
| 7 | Jaco Schoonwinkel | South Africa | 5 | 3.5 | 4.5 |
| 9 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 4 | 2 | 7 |
| 10 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 3 | 1 | 5 |

### Event 3: Fingal's Fingers

* Weight: 5 implements ranging from 145–172 kilograms (320–379 lb)
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
| # | Name | Nationality | Time (sec) | Event Pts | Overall Pts |
| 1 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 5 in 39.36 | 10 | 24 |
| 2 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 5 in 42.26 | 9 | 24.5 |
| 3 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 5 in 48.46 | 8 | 22.5 |
| 4 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 5 in 48.69 | 7 | 14 |
| 5 | Evan Singleton | United States | 5 in 49.85 | 6 | 15.5 |
| 6 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 5 in 49.89 | 5 | 25 |
| 7 | Brian Shaw | United States | 4 in 26.61 | 4 | 14.5 |
| 8 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 4 in 32.54 | 3 | 8 |
| 9 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 4 in 35.03 | 2 | 11.5 |
| 10 | Jaco Schoonwinkel | South Africa | 4 in 40.76 | 1 | 5.5 |
* ↑ After this event Jaco Schoonwinkel withdrew from the competition and took no further part.

### Event 4: Max Dumbbell

* Opening Weight: 115 kilograms (254 lb)
| # | Name | Nationality | Weight | Event Pts | Overall Pts |
| 1 | Evan Singleton | United States | 140 kilograms (310 lb) | 9.5 | 25 |
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 140 kilograms (310 lb) | 9.5 | 34.5 |
| 3 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 132 kilograms (291 lb) | 6.5 | 30.5 |
| 3 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 132 kilograms (291 lb) | 6.5 | 31 |
| 3 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 132 kilograms (291 lb) | 6.5 | 20.5 |
| 3 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 132 kilograms (291 lb) | 6.5 | 14.5 |
| 7 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 125 kilograms (276 lb) | 3 | 25.5 |
| 7 | Brian Shaw | United States | 125 kilograms (276 lb) | 3 | 17.5 |
| 7 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 125 kilograms (276 lb) | 3 | 14.5 |

### Event 5: Bus Pull

* Weight: 23,000 kilograms (51,000 lb)
* Course Length: 25 metres (82 ft)
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
| # | Name | Nationality | Time (sec) | Event Pts | Overall Pts |
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 30.24 | 10 | 44.5 |
| 2 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 32.27 | 8.5 | 39 |
| 2 | Evan Singleton | United States | 32.27 | 8.5 | 33.5 |
| 4 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 32.46 | 7 | 27.5 |
| 5 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 32.49 | 6 | 31.5 |
| 6 | Brian Shaw | United States | 32.65 | 5 | 22.5 |
| 7 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 32.83 | 4 | 18.5 |
| 8 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 33.35 | 3 | 34 |
| 9 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 36.29 | 2 | 16.5 |

### Event 6: Atlas Stones

* Weight: 5 stones ranging from 150–210 kilograms (330–460 lb)
* Time Limit: 60 seconds
| # | Name | Nationality | Time (sec) | Event Pts | Overall Pts |
| 1 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 5 in 33.26 | 10 | 49 |
| 2 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 5 in 36.96 | 9 | 53.5 |
| 3 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 5 in 45.72 | 8 | 39.5 |
| 4 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 4 in 27.43 | 7 | 41 |
| 5 | Evan Singleton | United States | 4 in 28.16 | 6 | 39.5 |
| 6 | Brian Shaw | United States | 4 in 35.88 | 5 | 27.5 |
| 7 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 4 in 45.86 | 4 | 31.5 |
| 8 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 4 in 48.49 | 3 | 21.5 |
| 9 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 4 in 49.50 | 2 | 18.5 |

## Final standings

| # | Name | Nationality | Pts |
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper | Canada | 53.5 |
| 2 | Tom Stoltman | United Kingdom | 49 |
| 3 | Oleksii Novikov | Ukraine | 41 |
| 4 | Trey Mitchell | United States | 39.5 |
| 5 | Evan Singleton | United States | 39.5 |
| 6 | Pavlo Kordiyaka | Ukraine | 31.5 |
| 7 | Brian Shaw | United States | 27.5 |
| 8 | Luke Stoltman | United Kingdom | 21.5 |
| 9 | Mathew Ragg | New Zealand | 18.5 |
| 10 | Jaco Schoonwinkel | South Africa | 5.5 |

## Records

Mark Felix competed in his 18th World's Strongest Man competition, breaking his own record. He also became the oldest athlete to compete at the World's Strongest Man, being 57 years and 2 days old when the group stages concluded (and he was eliminated from the contest), breaking the record previously held by Odd Haugen.
Brian Shaw broke his own records for most WSM finals (15), most consecutive WSM finals (also 15), and most consecutive WSM contests (16). He also became the second man after Felix to compete in 16 WSMs. On top of this, by winning the kettlebell throw in his group, he won a record 62nd event at WSM (across both the group stages and the finals).
Rauno Heinla competed at WSM for the first time since 2011, breaking the previous record for longest absence from WSM held by Travis Ortmayer, setting a new record of 12 years.