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Home » Strongman News » These Are the 2018 World’s Strongest Man Qualifying Events and Groups

These Are the 2018 World’s Strongest Man Qualifying Events and Groups

Written by Nick English
Last updated on August 1st, 2023

We’re just two weeks away from the beginning of the most hotly anticipated event in strongman. The qualifying rounds of the 2018 World’s Strongest Man competition run from April 28th til May 1st before the two-day finals are held on May 5th and 6th in Manila, and our sources have passed BarBend a preview of the qualifying groups and events we can expect to see.

[Read more: the full list of athletes competing at the World’s Strongest Man.]

Everyone has the same Event 1 and Event 6: the events kick off with the Load and Carry on Saturday and end with Atlas Stones on Tuesday.

But there’s quite a bit of variety with regard to the other events and when the athletes compete: Group 1 and 4 have two events on Saturday and one on Sunday, while everyone else has one event on Saturday and two on Sunday. All athletes get one event on Monday so that they can come in full strength for two events on Tuesday.

Without further ado, these are the groups and events you can expect to see.

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson (@thorbjornsson)

Group 1

Matjaz Belsak (SLO)
Hafthor Julius Bjornsson (ISL)
Rob Kearney (USA)
Marius Lalas (LTU)
Peiman Maheripourehir (IRI)
Laurence Shahlaei (GBR)

Saturday, April 28:

Event 1: Load and Carry
Event 2: Circle of Strength

Sunday, April 29

Event 3: Squat Lift

Monday, April 30

Event 4: Arm Over Arm

Tuesday, May 1

Event 5: Overhead Log
Event 6: Atlas Stones

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Brian Shaw (@shawstrength)

Group 2

Adam Bishop (GBR)
Adam Derks (USA)
Johan Els (RSA)
Johnny Hansson (SWE)
Vytautas Lalas (LTU)
Brian Shaw (USA)

Saturday, April 28

Event 1: Load and Carry

Sunday, April 29

Event 2: Kettlebell Toss
Event 3: Deadlift

Monday, April 30

Event 4: Arm Over Arm

Tuesday, May 1

Event 5: Dumbbell Medley
Event 6: Atlas Stones

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by WSM Žydrūnas Savickas Big Z (@savickas_bigz)

Group 3

Graham Hicks (GBR)
Iron Biby (BUR)
Dennis Kohlruss (GER)
Robert Oberst (USA)
Zydrunas Savickas (LTU)
Luke Stoltman (GBR)

Saturday, April 28

Event 1: Load and Carry

Sunday, April 29

Event 2: Kettlebell Toss
Event 3: Squat Lift

Monday, April 30

Event 4: Bus Pull

Tuesday, May 1

Event 5: Overhead Log
Event 6: Atlas Stones

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Martins Licis (@martinslicis)

Group 4

JF Caron (CAN)
Mark Felix (GBR)
Martin Forsmark (SWE)
Rongo Keene (AUS)
Martins Licis (USA)
Krzysztof Radzikowski (POL)

Saturday, April 28

Event 1: Load and Carry
Event 2: Circle of Strength

Sunday, April 29

Event 3: Deadlift

Monday, April 30

Event 4: Arm Over Arm

Tuesday, May 1

Event 5: Dumbbell Medley
Event 6: Atlas Stones

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Mateusz Kieliszkowski (@kieliszkowskimateusz)

Group 5

Nick Best (USA)
Terry Hollands (GBR)
Konstantine Janashia (GEO)
Mateusz Kieliszkowski (POL)
Mikhail Shivlyakov (RUS)
Aivars Smaukstelis (LAT)

Saturday, April 28

Event 1: Load and Carry

Sunday, April 29

Event 2: Kettlebell Toss
Event 3: Deadlift

Monday, April 30

Event 4: Bus Pull

Tuesday, May 1

Event 5: Dumbbell Medley
Event 6: Atlas Stones

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by KING Iron Biby 👑 (@ironbiby)

Note that Adam Bishop is still listed as a competitor despite having partially torn his bicep before Europe’s Strongest Man. While one might assume he’d be dropping out of WSM, he posted on his Instagram that “luckily the tendon is intact, however I need to rest it in order to compete at WSM in 3 weeks time.”

This year’s competition is stacked. Best of luck to all the athletes.

Featured image via @thorbjornsson on Instagram.

About Nick English

Nick is a content producer and journalist with over seven years’ experience reporting on four continents. Since moving to New York City in 2013 he's been writing on health and fitness full time for outlets like BarBend, Men's Health, VICE, and Popular Science.

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