2022 World’s Strongest Man Day One Recap and Results

The 45th edition of the World’s Strongest Man (WSM) began on Tuesday, May 24, 2022. As usual, the most prestigious competition in strongman began with a bang during the first part of the Qualifying Round at the Capitol Mall in Sacramento, CA. 

In this leg of the competition, the 30-person roster of athletes had to tackle the Loading Race and the Deadlift Ladder while divided up into their five respective qualifying groups. Here’s where the leaderboard stands after Day One, along with a short recap of how each athlete fared in the first events of the contest. 

2022 WSM Leaderboard — Day One

Rank	Name	Points
Group 1
1	Tom Stoltman — United Kingdom	12
2	Kevin Faires — USA	9
3	Aivars Smaukstelis — Latvia	7
4	Gabriel Rheaume — Canada	7
5	Andy Black — United Kingdom	5
6	Manuel Angulo — Chile	2
Group 2
1	Mitchell Hooper — Canada	12
2	Bobby Thompson — USA	8
3	Gabriel Pena — Mexico	7
4	Brian Shaw — USA	7
5	Mark Felix — Canada	4
6	Konstantine Janashia — Georgia	4
Group 3
1	Oleksii Novikov — Ukraine	12
2	Adam Bishop — United Kingdom	10
3	Trey Mitchell — USA	7
4	Mika Törrö — Finland	6
5	Rob Kearney — USA	5
6	Grzegorz Szymanski — Poland	2
Group 4
1	Martins Licis — USA	12
2	Gavin Bilton — United Kingdom	8
3	Maxime Boudreault — Canada	8
4	Shane Flowers — United Kingdom	6
5	Pavlo Kordiyaka — Ukraine	6
6	Nedžmin Ambešković — Bosnia and Herzegovina	2
Group 5
1	Luke Stoltman — United Kingdom	12
2	Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — France	8
3	Kelvin De Ruiter — Netherlands	7
4	Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Iceland	7
5	Kim Ujarak Lorentzen — Greenland	5
6	Evan Singleton — USA (withdrawn)	2

2022 WSM Day One Results

Here are the results from each Group, including each athlete’s individual finishes, corresponding time, and placing within the Loading Race and Deadlift Ladder events. 

Loading Race Recap

The day’s first event saw competitors completing a loading race where they had to travel eight meters while carrying five separate implements — a 220-pound “cannonball” Atlas Stone, a 265-pound keg, a 275-pound anvil, and two Rogue sandbags weighing just under 300 pounds each. Reigning WSM champion Tom Stoltman won his group, while Mitchell Hooper, Oleksii Novikov, Martin Licis, and Luke Stoltman all also had strong first-place showings in their respective groups. 

Unfortunately, Evan Singleton suffered an injury during the event and had to withdraw from the competition, marking the third consecutive year he was unable to finish the WSM.

Group 1

1. Tom Stoltman — Five implements, 38.39 seconds
2. Kevin Faires — Five implements, 43.36 seconds
3. Aivars Šmaukstelis — Five implements, 44.37 seconds
4. Andy Black —Five implements, 50.81 seconds
5. Gabriel Rhéaume — Five implements, 53.39 seconds
6. Manuel Angulo — Four implements, 70 seconds

Group 2

1. Mitchell Hooper — Five implements, 38.31 seconds
2. Brian Shaw — Five implements, 45 seconds
3. Gabriel Peña — Five implements, 45.88 seconds
4. Konstantine Janashia — Five implements, 49.47
5. Bobby Thompson — Five implements, 49.70 seconds
6. Mark Felix — Five implements, 54.96 seconds

Group 3

1. Oleksii Novikov — Five implements, 37.25 seconds
2. Adam Bishop — Five implements, 45.85 seconds
3. Mika Törrö — Five implements, 47.84 seconds
4. Trey Mitchell — Five implements, 48.76 seconds
5. Rob Kearney — Five implements, 54.62 seconds
6. Grzegorz Szymanski — Four implements, 29.89 seconds

Group 4

1. Martins Licis — Five implements, 37.73 seconds
2. Maxime Boudreault — Five implements, 40.68 seconds
3. Pavlo Kordiyaka — Five implements, 43.70 seconds
4. Gavin Bilton — Five implements, 45.76 seconds
5. Shane Flowers — Five implements, 48.70 seconds
6. Nedžmin Ambešković — One implement, 10.2 seconds

Group 5

1. Luke Stoltman — Five implements, 37.95 seconds
2. Kelvin De Ruiter — Five implements, 39.18 seconds
3. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Five implements, 49.69 seconds
4. Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — Five implements, 52.70 seconds
5. Evan Singleton — Five implements, 1:08 (withdrawn)
6. Kim Ujarak — Four implements, 34.49 seconds

Deadlift Ladder Results

The deadlift ladder tests strength, endurance, and will. The respective competitors had to perform one deadlift using five progressively heavier barbells — 300 kilograms (660 pounds),  320kg (705 pounds), 340kg (750 pounds), 360kg (795 pounds), and 380kg (840 pounds). Tom Stoltman again came out on top in his group, while Hooper, Novikov, Licis, and Luke Stoltman all kept a relative pace by doing the same. 

Shane Flowers had a cast applied to his foot and ankle after his final deadlift attempt, possibly related to an injury initiated after the Loading Race event earlier in the day.

Group 1

1. Tom Stoltman — 5 reps in 0:51.46s
2. Kevin Faires — 4 reps in 0:45.89s
3. Gabriel Rhéaume — 4 reps in 0:39.40s
4. Aivars Šmaukstelis — 4 reps in 0:55.91s
5. Andy Black —4 reps in 1:02.30s
6. Manuel Angulo — 3 reps in 0:38.62s

Group 2

1. Mitchell Hooper — 5 reps in 0:31.21s
2. Bobby Thompson — 5 reps in 0:42.56s
3. Gabriel Peña — 5 reps in 0:52.53s
4. Mark Felix — 4 reps in 0:28.64s
5. Brian Shaw — 4 reps in 0:32.20s
6. Konstantine Janashia — 3 reps in 0:19.05s

Group 3

1. Oleksii Novikov — 5 reps in 0:35.64s
2. Adam Bishop — 5 reps in 0:37.44s
3. Trey Mitchell — 5 reps in 0:59.00s
4. Rob Kearney — 4 reps in 0:41.28s
5. Mika Törrö — 2 reps in 0:26.65s
6. Grzegorz Szymanski — 2 reps in 0:26.91s

Group 4

1. Martins Licis — 5 reps in 0:43.59s
2. Gavin Bilton — 5 reps in 0:52.28s
3. Shane Flowers — 4 reps in 0:36.69s
4. Maxime Boudreault — 3 reps in 0:21.12s
5. Pavlo Kordiyaka — 3 reps in 0:38.50s
6. Nedžmin Ambešković — 3 reps in 0:45.45s

Group 5

1. Luke Stoltman — 4 reps in 0:42.87s
2. Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 4 reps in 0:53.87s
3. Kim Ujarak — 4 reps in 0:56.48s
4. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 3 reps in 0:40.88s
5. Kelvin De Ruiter — 3 reps in 0:56.44s
6. Evan Singleton —  (withdrawn)

Day Two Is Next

This year’s WSM is only getting ramped up, and there’s still plenty to sort through before the weekend’s Finals on Saturday, May 28 to Sunday, May 29, 2022. Wednesday’s Qualifying Round events will see the respective athletes strap a Volkswagen Bug to their shoulders during the Car Walk and challenge their overhead strength with the Log Lift. It should undoubtedly be another tight race to keep a close eye on. 

Featured image: Joe Martinez/World’s Strongest Man