Maxime Boudreault has withdrawn his respective roster spots in the upcoming 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC) and 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contests. The athlete cited a broken shin bone he suffered from a fall as the reason behind the moves.
“Fell on the ice yesterday and broke the small shin bone. Waiting to see the surgeon but staying optimistic.”
Boudreault posted an Instagram video on February 23, 2023, disclosing the news of his immediate competitive future being put on hold. While delivering the update, it appeared the athlete was being wheeled in for the care of his injury by his partner Samantha Belliveau, the 2021 Canada’s Strongest Woman (CSW) champion.
The timeline of Boudreault’s withdrawal from the 2023 ASC, which is scheduled for Mar. 2-5, 2023, in Columbus, OH, makes perfect sense. It likely would’ve been too much for a strength-based athlete to put the requisite stress on his body on such a short turnaround where he might not even be fully healed.
The 2023 WSM taking place on an Apr. 19-23, 2023, date — after occurring in late May during the 2022 iteration — seems to be an unlucky coincidence for Boudreault. While WSM scheduling has usually jumped around the calendar in recent years (the 2021 competition took place in June and the 2020 contest was held in November), the athlete may have been able to heal completely and compete if given more time.
On Feb. 22, 2023, the ASC revealed that Kevin Faires would replace Boudreault on the 2023 ASC roster. At the time of this writing, it is unclear who will take Boudreault’s place in the 2023 WSM.
Regarding recent competitive results, Boudreault captured the 2022 Canada’s Strongest Man (CSM) title in August 2022. He finished in fifth place during the 2022 WSM. To date, Boudreault’s best output at a WSM contest was when he stood on the podium in 2021, with only the legendary Brian Shaw and now two-time reigning WSM champion Tom Stoltman eclipsing him. As for his last ASC, the Canadian competitor garnered a sixth-place performance in March 2022.
Nevertheless, before he can build on any of this past precedent, Boudreault will be on the shelf until further notice.
Boudreault’s currently one of the bigger names in strongman and seems to have suffered an unfortunate bout of luck, knocking him out of two major contests. Seeing him compete again might be worth the wait whenever he returns fully healthy.
Featured image: @evolutionathleticsgear on Instagram
