The sport of strongman has a new king, and now he gets to sit on his throne in Myrtle Beach, SC.
After the wild gauntlet that was the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM), Mitchell Hooper used the final day of the contest to capture his first WSM title. Former two-time reigning champion Tom Stoltman (2021-2022) and 2020 victor Oleksii Novikov rounded out the podium. Here’s an overview of the event-by-event results from Day 4 of the 2023 WSM and the official standings leaderboard from the 2023 WSM Finals.
Editor’s Note: Results were provided by our official reporter in attendance. These results were not considered official until after they were confirmed on the World’s Strongest Man homepage.
2023 WSM Finals Leaderboard
| Rank | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Mitchell Hooper — Canada | 53.5 |
| 2 | Tom Stoltman — United Kingdom | 49 |
| 3 | Oleksii Novikov — Ukraine | 41 |
| 4 | Trey Mitchell — USA | 39.5 |
| 5 | Evan Singleton — USA | 39.5 |
| 6 | Pavlo Kordiyaka — Ukraine | 31.5 |
| 7 | Brian Shaw — USA | 27.5 |
| 8 | Luke Stoltman — United Kingdom | 21.5 |
| 9 | Mathew Ragg — New Zealand | 18.5 |
| 10 | Jaco Schoonwinkel — South Africa — Withdrawn | 5.5 |
Here’s a recap of the results from the fourth and final day of the 2023 WSM, including how each of the top 10 competitors fared on the Max Dumbbell, Bus Pull, and Atlas Stones.
Max Dumbbell Recap
The Max Dumbbell tasked the respective athletes with a single-arm, overhead press of an oversized, thick-handled dumbbell. The athletes lifted in rounds of gradually increasing weight until they couldn’t lift the next sequential dumbbell.
The weights of the dumbbells featured were as follows: 115 kilograms (254 pounds), 125 kilograms (275 pounds), 132.5 kilograms (291 pounds), 140 kilograms (309 pounds), 145 kilograms (319 pounds), 151 kilograms (333 pounds — a World Record weight), and 155 kilograms (342 pounds).
The event started with an unfortunate shake-up for South Africa’s Jaco Schoonwinkel. In his first-ever WSM Finals, Schoonwinkel appeared to suffer an injury during his first lift of the event. The athlete would be forced to withdraw in a result that led to his eventual 10th-place finish.
Mitchell Hooper and Evan Singleton would tie for first place in the Max Dumbbell as the only competitors to lift the 140-kilogram (309-pound) dumbbell.
- Mitchell Hooper — Four lifts
- Evan Singleton — Four lifts
- Oleksii Novikov — Three lifts
- Tom Stoltman — Three lifts
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — Three lifts
- Luke Stoltman — Three lifts
- Trey Mitchell — Two lifts
- Brian Shaw — Two lifts
- Mathew Ragg — Two lifts
- Jaco Schoonwinkel — Withdrawn
Bus Pull Recap
Next on the docket for the 2023 WSM elite was the Bus Pull. This event gave the respective competitors the objective of pulling a staggering 23,133-kilogram (51,000-pound) bus as far as possible down a 25-meter (82-foot) path with a time limit of one minute.
Hooper once again won the event, finishing the Bus Pull in 30.24 seconds. This event marked Hooper’s eighth event victory throughout the contest.
- Mitchell Hooper — 30.24 seconds
- Tom Stoltman — 32.27 seconds
- Evan Singleton — 32.27 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 32.46 seconds
- Trey Mitchell — 32.49 seconds
- Brian Shaw — 32.65 seconds
- Luke Stoltman — 32.83 seconds
- Mathew Ragg — 36.29 seconds
- Oleksii Novikov — 33.35 seconds
- Jaco Schoonwinkel — Withdrawn
Atlas Stones Recap
As is WSM tradition, the Atlas Stones put a cherry on top of the 2023 WSM. The athletes had to lift five progressively heavier stones onto their respective platforms within a one-minute time limit. The five stones had weights of 150 kilograms (330 pounds), 160 kilograms (350 pounds), 180 kilograms (395 pounds), 200 kilograms (440 pounds), and 210 kilograms (460 pounds).
Entering this final event, all Hooper needed to secure his first WSM title was a minimum sixth-place result. After a few competitors faltered on the fifth Atlas Stone, Hooper’s second-place finish was more than enough to pen him down in strongman history. Though, runner-up Tom Stoltman would win the Atlas Stones event by lifting all five Stones in 33.26 seconds to entrench himself on the 2023 WSM podium.
- Tom Stoltman — 5 stones, 33.26 seconds
- Mitchell Hooper — 5 stones, 36.96 seconds
- Trey Mitchell — 5 reps, 45.72 seconds
- Oleksii Novikov — 4 reps, 27.43 seconds
- Evan Singleton — 4 reps, 28.16 seconds
- Brian Shaw — 4 stones, 35.88 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 4 stones, 45.86 seconds
- Luke Stoltman — 4 stones, 48.49 seconds
- Mathew Ragg — 4 stones, 49.5 seconds
- Jaco Schoonwinkel — Withdrawn
A Historic World’s Strongest Man
There was no shortage of worthy storylines at the 2023 WSM.
With his title, Hooper capped one of the more remarkable approximate one-year runs in strongman history. Now, while sitting at the top, he may well be beginning an extended reign of dominance as the sport’s preeminent royalty.
On a bittersweet but likely still happy note, four-time WSM champion (2011, 2013, 2015-2016) Brian Shaw finished in seventh place in his last WSM Finals. The strongman legend walks off into the sunset having qualified for the WSM Finals on 15 of 16 occasions in his career.
Meanwhile, the former two-time defending champion in Tom Stoltman fell short of a historic three-peat, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his place as an elite competitor. In the weeks and months ahead, and in any ensuing WSM, it wouldn’t be a far cry to see Stoltman contend for many strongman titles.
As far as debuts go, Mathew Ragg’s WSM debut was the first time in 40 years that a New Zealand competitor reached the WSM Finals, with Allan Hallberg being the last representative in the 1983 WSM. South Africa’s Jaco Schoonwinkel also had an extremely solid showing, dominating his Qualifying Group before falling to injury in the Finals.
Indeed, the 2023 WSM was a cornucopia of incredible strength and athletic resolve. In the end, Hooper stood tall above the rest of his talented peers.
Featured image: Todd Burandt / Courtesy of World’s Strongest Man
