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 — Australia
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Evan Singleton — USA (withdrawn)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
Tom Stoltman — Five implements, 38.39 seconds
Kevin Faires — Five implements, 43.36 seconds
Aivars Šmaukstelis — Five implements, 44.37 seconds
Andy Black —Five implements, 50.81 seconds
Gabriel Rhéaume — Five implements, 53.39 seconds
Manuel Angulo — Four implements, 70 seconds
Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — Five implements, 38.31 seconds
Brian Shaw — Five implements, 45 seconds
Gabriel Peña — Five implements, 45.88 seconds
Konstantine Janashia — Five implements, 49.47
Bobby Thompson — Five implements, 49.70 seconds
Mark Felix — Five implements, 54.96 seconds
Group 3
Oleksii Novikov — Five implements, 37.25 seconds
Adam Bishop — Five implements, 45.85 seconds
Mika Törrö — Five implements, 47.84 seconds
Trey Mitchell — Five implements, 48.76 seconds
Rob Kearney — Five implements, 54.62 seconds
Grzegorz Szymanski — Four implements, 29.89 seconds
Group 4
Martins Licis — Five implements, 37.73 seconds
Maxime Boudreault — Five implements, 40.68 seconds
Pavlo Kordiyaka — Five implements, 43.70 seconds
Gavin Bilton — Five implements, 45.76 seconds
Shane Flowers — Five implements, 48.70 seconds
Nedžmin Ambešković — One implement, 10.2 seconds
Group 5
Luke Stoltman — Five implements, 37.95 seconds
Kelvin De Ruiter — Five implements, 39.18 seconds
Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Five implements, 49.69 seconds
Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — Five implements, 52.70 seconds
Evan Singleton — Five implements, 1:08 (withdrawn)
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
Tom Stoltman — 5 reps in 0:51.46s
Kevin Faires — 4 reps in 0:45.89s
Gabriel Rhéaume — 4 reps in 0:39.40s
Aivars Šmaukstelis — 4 reps in 0:55.91s
Andy Black —4 reps in 1:02.30s
Manuel Angulo — 3 reps in 0:38.62s
Group 2
Mitchell Hooper — 5 reps in 0:31.21s
Bobby Thompson — 5 reps in 0:42.56s
Gabriel Peña — 5 reps in 0:52.53s
Mark Felix — 4 reps in 0:28.64s
Brian Shaw — 4 reps in 0:32.20s
Konstantine Janashia — 3 reps in 0:19.05s
Group 3
Oleksii Novikov — 5 reps in 0:35.64s
Adam Bishop — 5 reps in 0:37.44s
Trey Mitchell — 5 reps in 0:59.00s
Rob Kearney — 4 reps in 0:41.28s
Mika Törrö — 2 reps in 0:26.65s
Grzegorz Szymanski — 2 reps in 0:26.91s
Group 4
Martins Licis — 5 reps in 0:43.59s
Gavin Bilton — 5 reps in 0:52.28s
Shane Flowers — 4 reps in 0:36.69s
Maxime Boudreault — 3 reps in 0:21.12s
Pavlo Kordiyaka — 3 reps in 0:38.50s
Nedžmin Ambešković — 3 reps in 0:45.45s
Group 5
Luke Stoltman — 4 reps in 0:42.87s
Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — 4 reps in 0:53.87s
Kim Ujarak — 4 reps in 0:56.48s
Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 3 reps in 0:40.88s
Kelvin De Ruiter — 3 reps in 0:56.44s
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
