The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.
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.
Giants Live was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three at each contest will receive an invitation to compete at the World's Strongest Man contest for that same year.
Laurence Cristiaan David Shahlaei is an English YouTuber, strength sports commentator, analyst, coach, and a retired strongman and powerlifting competitor. Shahlaei is a winner of England's Strongest Man, Britain's Strongest Man and Europe's Strongest Man competitions, and an 11 time entrant and 5 time finalist of the prestigious World's Strongest Man competition.
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, 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.
Jean-François 'JF' Caron is a Canadian strongman and powerlifter from Les Hauteurs, Quebec, Canada. Having competed in 73 International strongman competitions and winning 10 of them, Caron is among the 20 most decorated strongmen of all time.
Mateusz Kieliszkowski is a Polish strongman competitor, notable for winning the 2019 World's Ultimate Strongman competition. He is also a two-time World's Strongest Man runner-up, two-time Arnold Strongman Classic runner-up, one time Europe's Strongest Man runner-up, and five-times Poland's Strongest Man.
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.
Tom 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).
Luke Bernard Stoltman is a Scottish professional strongman competitor, 5 time winner of Scotland’s Strongest Man and 2021 Europe’s Strongest Man champion. Renowned for his static shoulder strength, Luke currently holds the British Log Press record. Along with younger brother, Tom Stoltman, the two are widely regarded as the strongest brothers in history and are the only ones to both qualify for the World’s Strongest Man finals; a feat they have managed in 2019, 2021, 2022 and 2023.
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.
Konstantine Janashia is a professional strongman from Georgia. He is a six time Georgia's Strongest Man, three time podium finisher at Europe's Strongest Man, and in 2016, Janashia became the first Georgian to reach the World's Strongest Man final, where he placed fourth.
Adam Bishop is a professional strongman and two-time winner of the Britain's Strongest Man competition. Bishop refers to himself in the media as "one of the little guys" in the sport, despite weighing over 300lbs. Bishop has also competed in rugby, where he played as a winger, and in skeleton bobsleigh.
Mikhail Vasilyevich Shivlyakov is a former Russian Marine currently competing as a professional strongman.
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 2021 Europe's Strongest Man was a strongman competition that took place in Leeds, England on 4 September 2021 at the First Direct Arena. This event was part of the 2021 Giants live tour.
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.
Mitchell Hooper is a Canadian strongman and kinesiologist. He secured 1st place at the 2023 World's Strongest Man competition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he also became the first Canadian to win the title of World's Strongest Man. He also won the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic, becoming the fourth person to achieve both feats in the same year.
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 Shaw Classic was the 4th edition of the Shaw Classic strongman competition which took place in Loveland, Colorado from 19 to 20 August 2023 at the Budweiser Events Center. The competition included separate professional men's, open men's and open women's categories. This would also be the last event of four times World's Strongest Man and organiser of the competition Brian Shaw's career. The winner of the professional men's category was given the title of The Strongest Man on Earth after Brian acquired the trademark for the phrase from Paul Ohl, the organiser of the now defunct Fortissimus strongman competition.
United States Colorado Estes Park Event Center
