Strength athletics in the United States Last updated August 18, 2025 Strength athletics in the United States refers to the various strongman competitions organized throughout United States and North America with the elements of all of strength athletics taken into account. United States has held a preeminent position as a nation due to the enormous success of its competitors on the international stage, who between Bruce Wilhelm , Don Reinhoudt , Bill Kazmaier , Mark Henry , Phil Pfister , Derek Poundstone , Brian Shaw , Mike Jenkins and Martins Licis have won twelve World's Strongest Man titles, eight Arnold Strongman Classic titles, in addition to numerous other international strongman competitions won by various different athletes. United States has both amateur and professional sanctioning bodies in the sport.
American Strongman Corporation ("ASC") is the sole sanctioning body for all professional American strength athletes and organizes the annual America's Strongest Man contest, [ 1] as well as the NAS US Amateur National Championships, the winner of which receives their pro card to compete in professional contests. [ 2] North American Strongman ("NASM") organizes the majority of the amateur contests in the United States, and holds pro qualifier events and national championship events throughout the year with men's, woman's, teen's and master's divisions as well as lightweight and heavyweight classes similar to ASC.
United States Strongman [ 3] is a relatively new organization.
America's Strongest Man Location United States Established 1997 Format Multi-event competition Lucas Hatton
America's Strongest Man is an annual strongman competition held in the United States and featuring only American athletes. It is the most prestigious of the national titles. The contest was established in 1997 in Primm, Nevada , with Mark Philippi winning the inaugural contest. It has been held twenty-six times in eighteen locations across the United States and has produced twenty champions. [ 4]
Derek Poundstone holds the record for the highest number of wins with three, while Brian Shaw , Dimitar Savatinov , Lucas Hatton , Steve Kirit and Brian Schoonveld share two wins each.
Champions breakdown Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location 1997 Mark Phillipi Harold Collins Primm, Nevada 1998 Karl Gillingham Harold Collins Odd Haugen Las Vegas, Nevada 1999 [ 5] Brian Neese Odd Haugen Honolulu, Hawaii 2000 [ 6] Phil Pfister Maryland Heights, Missouri 2001 [ 7] Phil Pfister Johnny Perry Kokomo, Indiana 2002 [ 8] Steve Kirit Johnny Perry Karl Gillingham St. Louis, Missouri 2003 [ 9] Steve Kirit Phil Pfister Mark Phillipi St. Louis, Missouri 2004 [ 10] Van Hatfield Phil Pfister Karl Gillingham Atlanta, Georgia 2005 Event not held 2006 [ 11] Steve MacDonald Jon Andersen Travis Ortmayer Columbia, South Carolina 2007 [ 12] Derek Poundstone Nick Best Van Hatfield Charlotte, North Carolina 2008 Jason Kristal Jason Bergmann Van Hatfield Charleston, West Virginia 2009 Derek Poundstone Travis Ortmayer Morgantown, West Virginia 2010 [ 13] Derek Poundstone Mike Jenkins Las Vegas, Nevada 2011 [ 14] Travis Ortmayer Dave Ostlund Mike Burke Hot Springs, Arkansas 2012 [ 15] Mike Burke Robert Oberst Las Vegas, Nevada 2013 [ 16] Brian Shaw Robert Oberst Dimitar Savatinov Las Vegas, Nevada 2014 [ 17] Dimitar Savatinov Robert Oberst Phoenix, Arizona 2015 [ 18] Dimitar Savatinov Martins Licis Atlanta, Georgia 2016 [ 19] Brian Shaw Dimitar Savatinov St. Louis, Missouri 2017 [ 20] Jerry Pritchett Dimitar Savatinov Phoenix, Arizona 2018 [ 21] Trey Mitchell Long Beach, California 2019 Trey Mitchell Miami Beach, Florida 2020 Savannah, Georgia 2021 San Antonio, Texas 2022 [ 22] Trey Mitchell Las Vegas, Nevada 2023 [ 23] Lucas Hatton Rob Kearney Orlando, Florida 2024 Lucas Hatton Kevin Faires Las Vegas, Nevada
Repeat champions America's Strongest Woman was initiated in 2021 and features both American and foreign athletes residing and training in the United States. 18 athletes have participated in the competition over the past four years. [ 24]
All-American Strongman Challenge A competition started in 2005 which was initially reserved for American athletes but was later opened for international athletes too.
North America's Strongest Man Location Quebec Established 1992 Format Multi-event competition
North America's Strongest Man is an annual strongman competition consisting of athletes from both United States and Canada . The event was established in 1992 [ 4] with Gary Mitchell of the United States winning the inaugural competition.
Despite the three hiatus periods (1994-1997, 2004-2006 and 2015-2022), the competition has been held seventeen times. Canada has produced five champions who shared ten titles among them while United States has produced seven champions with a title each for a total of seven.
The contest has been always held in Quebec .
Champions breakdown Year Champion Runner-Up 3rd Place Location 1992 (To be confirmed) (To be confirmed) Gatineau, Quebec 1993 Steve Pulcinella (To be confirmed) (To be confirmed) Gatineau, Quebec 1994–1997 Event not held 1998 (To be confirmed) (To be confirmed) Gatineau, Quebec 1999 (To be confirmed) (To be confirmed) Gatineau, Quebec 2001 Hugo Girard Geoff Dolan Phil Pfister Gatineau, Quebec 2002 Hugo Girard (To be confirmed) (To be confirmed) Gatineau, Quebec 2003 Jon Andersen Gatineau, Quebec 2004–2006 Event not held 2007 [ 25] Jessen Paulin Brian Shaw Christian Savoie Gatineau, Quebec 2008 [ 26] Jessen Paulin Christian Savoie Gatineau, Quebec 2009 [ 27] Christian Savoie Jean-François Caron Gatineau, Quebec 2010 [ 28] Christian Savoie Jean-François Caron Gatineau, Quebec 2011 [ 29] Christian Savoie Jean-François Caron Karl Gillingham Gatineau, Quebec 2012 Jean-François Caron Dave Ostlund Gatineau, Quebec 2013 Jean-François Caron Christian Savoie Dave Ostlund Gatineau, Quebec 2014 Brian Shaw Jean-François Caron Gatineau, Quebec 2015–2022 Event not held 2023 Trey Mitchell Lucas Hatton Victoriaville, Quebec 2024 Maxime Boudreault Lucas Hatton Tristain Hoath Victoriaville, Quebec 2025 Victoriaville, Quebec
NAS US Amateur Strongman Championships The Amateur US Nationals were created in 1997 and are held annually in various locations throughout the United States, with the winner of each weight class earning their pro card to compete professionally. Traditionally, the winner of the men's heavyweight class will go on to compete in major national and international strongman contests such as the World's Strongest Man and the Arnold Strongman Classic . [ 2]
Other competitions Rainier Classic Santa Monica Classic Vice Grip Viking Olympia Strongman Challenge Clash of the Titans Wrath of the Strongest North Dakota's Strongest Man Georgia's Strongest Man Tennessee's Strongest Orlando's Strongest Strongest on the Coast PA Dutch Strong Cerberus USA Mid-South Regional References ↑ "AMERICANSTRONGMAN.COM" . americanstrongman.com . 1 2 3 "AMERICANSTRONGMAN.COM" . americanstrongman.com . ↑ "United States Strongman" . United States Strongman . 1 2 "David Horne's World of Grip" . www.davidhorne-gripmaster.com . ↑ "Neese & Ahola Win in Hawaii..." www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Schoonveld Wins The American Showdown..." www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Schoonveld Wins American Hercules" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Steve Kirit Wins in St. Louis" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Steve Kirit Wins 2003 IFSA-USA Nationals" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Van Hatfield Takes the Lead in the MHP Pro Invitational Strongman Championships" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "America's Strongest Man - FreeTrainers.com Forums" . www.freetrainers.com . ↑ "Magnus Ver Praises Derek Poundstone" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Derek Poundstone Wins America's Strongest Man" . Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-11-03 . ↑ "2011 America's Strongest Man, Photos, Videos & Results from Day 1 and Day 2! - Page 22" . ↑ "Mike Burke Wins America's Strongest Man®" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Brian Shaw Wins America's Strongest Man" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Archived copy" . Archived from the original on 2016-03-05. Retrieved 2015-11-11 . {{cite web }}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link ) ↑ "Americas Strongest Man 2015 Results - Starting Strongman | Starting Strongman" . Archived from the original on 2015-11-04. Retrieved 2015-11-02 . ↑ "Brian Shaw Wins the 2016 America's Strongest Man - BarBend" . 2 October 2016. ↑ "Jerry Pritchett wins 2017 America's Strongest Man" . 15 October 2017. ↑ "Pain, Grit, and Power: The Strongest Americans You Don't Know" . 30 November 2018. ↑ Blechman, Phil (2022-12-19). "2022 America's Strongest Man and Strongest Woman Results — Bobby Thompson and Victoria Long Victorious" . BarBend . Retrieved 2023-08-31 . ↑ Blechman, Phil (November 6, 2023). "2023 America's Strongest Man and Woman Result" . BarBend . ↑ "America's Strongest Woman" . www.strongmanarchives.com . ↑ "North America's Strongest Man" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "North America's Strongest Man: Christian Savoie in the Lead" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Canadian Strongman Surges at North America's Strongest Man Contest" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ Tuesday, September 7, 2010, Christian Savoie Wins North American Strongman Championships , by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D. IronMind ↑ "Christian Savoie Wins North American Strongman Championships" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Tom McClure Wins NAS Nationals" . www.ironmind.com . ↑ "Justin Warren Wins the Heavyweight Class at the NAS Nationals" . www.ironmind.com . This page is based on this
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Lucas Hatton 
Olga Liashchuk 
Inez Carrasquillo 
