At 47 years old, some might consider Žydrūnas Savickas to be past his physical prime as a strongman. However, his legacy as an athlete — which includes four World’s Strongest Man titles (2009, 2010, 2012, and 2014) — is largely unassailable by most of his peers. With no signs of slowing down any time soon, this prolific, accomplished competitor seems to still have plenty to achieve before he lifts his final Atlas Stone onto its corresponding podium.
On Nov. 13, 2022, during the 2022 Official Strongman Games (OSG) in Daytona Beach, FL, Savickas successfully repeated to win the Masters (40-plus) World’s Strongest Man (WSM) title. The championship is the third Masters WSM victory (2017, 2021-2022) for the Lithuanian in his illustrious career. Joining Savickas on the podium were reigning World Deadlift Champion (WDC) Rauno Heinla (second place) — who Savickas eclipsed on a tiebreaker — and Jitse Kramer (third place).
Here’s an overview of the complete final standings from the 2022 Masters World’s Strongest Man:
2022 Master’s World Strongest Man Final Standings
- Žydrūnas Savickas — 54.5 points (Winner by a tiebreaker)
- Rauno Heinla — 54.5 points (Lost by a tiebreaker)
- Jitse Kramer — 50.5 points
- Matt Webb — 41 points
- Dimitar Savitinov — 41 points
- Dainius Repšys — 38.5 points
- Romek Velt — 34 points
- Washington Flores — 24 points
- Tim Filus — 24 points
- Peter Fundberg — 22 points
Here’s a quick synopsis of Savickas’ individual performance at the 2022 OSG, including how he overcame Heinla to take home the Masters title by the contest’s end.
Žydrūnas Savickas | 2022 Masters World’s Strongest Man Event By Event Overview
- Viking Press — Third place (nine reps)
- Farmer’s Walk — Third place (18.22 seconds)
- Axle Deadlift — Third place (nine reps)
- Sandbag to Shoulder — Third place (three bags in 24.47 seconds)
- Car Walk — Fifth place (14.56 seconds)
- Circus Dumbbell Medley — Fourth place (three dumbbells in 20.78 seconds)
- Atlas Stones — First place (six stones in 33.28 seconds)
Day One — Nov. 12, 2022
Savickas opened the first day of the competition with a spate of solid third-place results.
He started with the Viking press, tying Heinla in third with nine reps of a 147.5-kilogram (325.2-pound) implement. The Lithuanian athlete would follow that output with another third-place finish on the farmer’s walk — when he used his terrific grip strength to successfully carry 150 kilograms (330.7 pounds) in each hand for the prescribed (undisclosed) distance in 18.22 seconds.
After that, Savickas would notch nine reps of a 300-kilogram (660.3-pound) axle deadlift for another top-three event finish. To close the day, Savickas managed to lift three of the four sandbags in 24.47 seconds during the sandbag-to-shoulder event for one more third-place outcome.
Day Two — Nov. 13, 2022
In two of the final three events of the contest, Savickas started to slow down before a final flourish.
The strongman could only manage a fifth-place result on the car walk when he carried the vehicle frame weighing 408 kilograms (899.5 pounds) in 14.56 seconds. Next, after Savickas finished in fourth during the circus dumbbell medley, an event win for Heinla gave him the lead over the Lithuanian heading into the climactic final segment.
Savickas left no stone unturned (or unlifted) during the Atlas stones, pacing ahead of the entire field in a stellar first-place performance (all six stones in 33.28 seconds). Fate would smile upon this result when an unfortunate fourth-place stones result for Heinla (five stones in 30.51 seconds) meant the two athletes finished tied on points at 54.5. Because Savickas won the Atlas stones outright, he was awarded the tiebreaker and the 2022 Masters WSM championship.
Even at his age, Savickas has participated in six strongman contests during the 2022 calendar year thus far, winning three of them. He might not necessarily be at the peak of his powers, but it’s evident this living legend still has a rabid taste for competition and victory the way the great ones almost always do.
Featured image: savickas_bigz on Instagram
