The Arnold Strongman Classic is an annual competition featuring strength athletes from all over the world, determining who is the Strongest Man in the World. Created by Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jim Lorimer and Terry Todd, it is an offshoot of the Arnold Sports Festival which takes place annually in Columbus, Ohio, USA.
Laurence Cristiaan David Shahlaei is an English YouTuber, strength sports commentator, analyst, coach, and a retired strongman and powerlifting competitor. He won the 2016 Europe's Strongest Man competition. He is also the winner of England's Strongest Man (2009) and Britain's Strongest Man local strongman competitions.
Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more. In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson is an Icelandic professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all time. He is the first and only person to have won the Arnold Strongman Classic, the Europe's Strongest Man, and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year and holds numerous Strongman titles from multiple strength federations, including multiple world records. With 30 international competition wins, he is the third most decorated strongman in history, behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas and Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski, and in terms of pure brute strength, many strength analysts and strongman experts regard Hafþór as "the strongest man to have ever lived".
Edward Stephen Hall is a British media personality and retired strongman. He is best known for his world-record setting 500 kg (1,100 lb) deadlift in 2016 which is widely regarded as one of the most important lifts in the history of strongmen. He is also known for winning the 2017 World's Strongest Man competition.
Martins Licis is a Latvian-American professional strongman, notable for winning 2019 World's Strongest Man, 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and 2021 Rogue Invitational strongman championships.
The 2019 World's Strongest Man was the 42nd edition of the World's Strongest Man competition. It took place in Bradenton, Florida between June 13 and 16. Martins Licis of the United States won the competition for the first time in his career. Mateusz Kieliszkowski of Poland finished second for the second year in a row. Defending champion Hafthor Julius Bjornsson of Iceland finished third, having suffered a torn plantar fascia during the qualifying heats that hampered him throughout the finals.
Tom Ryan Stoltman is a British professional strongman competitor, from Invergordon, Scotland. He was the winner of the World's Strongest Man title two consecutive times in 2021 and 2022. He also won the national title Britain's Strongest Man on the same years. Nicknamed "The Albatross" due to his sizeable arm span, Stoltman is known for his prowess with the Atlas Stones. In 2020, Stoltman broke the world record for the 5 Atlas Stones 100–180 kilograms (220–400 lb) in just 16.01 seconds; he also holds the world record for the heaviest Atlas stone ever lifted over a 1.22 metres (4.0 ft) bar at 286 kilograms (631 lb).
World's Ultimate Strongman was an annual strongman competition which was held from 2018 to 2021 with the participation of top strongmen from all over the world, determining who is the strongest man in the world. The event was noted for its brute-strength-centricity and expanded the sport to a wider audience outside of Europe and USA. It also introduced the 'feats of strength' series in 2020, ensuring the continuous expansion of the sport during the Covid-19 pandemic. The competition has a number of rival and parallel competitions, including the World's Strongest Man, the Arnold Strongman Classic and the Giants Live Tour.
The 2019 World's Ultimate Strongman took place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates between October 24th and 25th. The winner of the inaugural World's Ultimate Strongman Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson did not partake this year due to taking a small break from competing. 2019 World's Strongest Man Martins Licis also did not partake due to injury. The competition had four-time World's Strongest Man Žydrūnas Savickas as a referee; 2017 World's Strongest Man Eddie Hall and 2016 Europe's Strongest Man Laurence Shahlaei were commentators of the event.
The 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic was a strongman contest that took place in Columbus, Ohio, from March 6–7, 2020 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The Arnold Strongman Classic is the finale of the Arnold Strongman Tour and is seen as one of the biggest and most prestigious strongmen events on the circuit.
Oleksii Novikov is a Ukrainian professional strongman. He won the 2020 World's Strongest Man competition, becoming the second Ukrainian to win the title since Vasyl Virastyuk in 2004, and at 24 years, 278 days, he is also the second youngest winner in history, being only seven days elder than Jón Páll Sigmarsson in 1984. He is also a two time World's Ultimate Strongman, Rogue Invitational champion and Europe’s Strongest Man.
The 2020 World's Strongest Man was the 43rd edition of the World's Strongest Man competition. It took place in Bradenton, Florida between November 11 and 15. Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine won the competition for the first time in his career, with Tom Stoltman of Great Britain taking second and Jean-Francois Caron of Canada taking third. At 24 years old, Novikov is the youngest man to win the event since Jón Páll Sigmarsson in 1984.
The Rogue Invitational is an annual sporting event that includes a CrossFit competition and a strongman competition. The event, organized by Rogue, started in 2019 as a CrossFit sanctioned competition, but has since become a major competition for CrossFit athletes. A contest for strongmen that featured the largest prize purse in the history of strongman competition was added in 2021.
The 2022 World's Strongest Man was the 45th edition of the World's Strongest Man competition, an event that took place in Sacramento, California from May 24 to May 29, 2022. The contest was won by Tom Stoltman with this being his second consecutive title. Joining him on the podium were the 2019 and 2020 World's Strongest Man winners, Martins Licis and Oleksii Novikov respectively, who tied on points. In the event of a draw, the higher placing athlete in the last event, in this case Licis in the Atlas Stones, wins the tie-breaker.
Olga Liashchuk is a Ukrainian pro Strongwoman from Donetsk. She is a 2 x time Arnold Strongwoman Classic champion and winner of World's Strongest Woman, Strongest Woman in the World and Shaw Classic Open (Women) competitions.
Charles "Trey" Mitchell III is a professional strongman from Lumberton, Texas. Standing 6'4" tall and known by his nickname "Big Tex", he is most notable for winning the Shaw Classic strongman championship two consecutive times in 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 Rogue Invitational is the fifth annual competition in CrossFit organized by Rogue Fitness and the 3rd to feature a strongman competition. It was held at the Dell Diamond in Austin, Texas from 26 to 29 October 2023. The Rogue Invitational also featured a Rogue Record Breaker event and a Legends competition for CrossFit veterans. The winners are Patrick Vellner for the CrossFit men's competition, Laura Horvath for the women's, and Mitchell Hooper for the strongman.
The 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic was the 22nd Arnold Strongman Classic competition which took place in Ohio, Columbus from 1–2 March 2024 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
