Some of the strongest men and women in the world have won the American’s Strongest Man and Woman contest — Karl Gillingham, Brian Shaw, Jerry Pritchett, and Kristin Rhodes. This year, from Nov. 6-8, 2020, in Savannah, GA, five more men and women were added to that list.
Over the course of two days, the strongest men and women in the country battled through six events (with a possible seventh tiebreaker, which wasn’t needed). Here are the events and the men’s and women’s results.
The events for these contests were as follows.
- Circus Dumbbell for Reps
- Sandbag Toss Over Bar
- Basket Deadlift for Reps
- Arm Over Arm Truck Pull
- Hussafell Stone Carry for Max Distance
- Sandbag Load Medley
- Iron Stein Hold*
*This was only in the event of a tie.
Men’s Results
Men’s Heavyweight Winner: Marcus Crowder
Men’s U105 Winner: Anthony Diehl
In the heavyweight division, Marcus Crowder took the title of America’s Strongest Man by winning two of the first three events on Saturday and finishing with a three and a half point lead on Tyler Cotton. Among the key lifts on that day were his five reps on the 240 pounds (108.8-kilogram) Circus Dumbbell press. He would maintain that lead throughout Sunday to take the victory. Cotton would have to settle for second place while Jose Baez found himself on the podium in third place. As the men’s professional heavyweight champion, Crowder has also earned a qualification position for the 2021 Arnold Strongman Santa Monica contest.
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The U105 division had 13 competitors pushing each other from start to finish. Anthony Diehl would finish day one with a slim one-and-a-half point lead over Nicholas Cambi. Diehl would maintain that position and eventually leave Savannah, GA, with the title in his possession. One highlight of Diehl’s weekend was his 12 reps on the Basket Deadlift with 675 pounds (306.1 kilograms) total weight. Cambi would maintain his second-place spot and would stand in the silver position on the podium. Jesse Nelson was in fifth after Saturday but surged up on Sunday to finish in the third-place spot.
Women’s Results
Women’s Heavyweight Winner: Jessica Fithen
Women’s Middleweight Winner: Gabrielle Burgholzer
Women’s Lightweight Winner: Rebecca Lorch
https://youtube.com/watch?v=5yp5r728_tI
In the women’s contest, there were three divisions — heavyweight, middleweight, and lightweight. The heavyweight division had four athletes, and Jessica Fithen won it. Going in as the favorite, she took the first two events, the Circus Dumbbell for Reps and Basket Deadlift for Reps, where she pulled 475 pounds (215.4 kilograms) for eight reps. Cori Butler stayed on Fithen’s heels throughout the two-day contest by winning the following two events: the Hussafell Stone Carry for Distance and the Arm over Arm Truck Pull. Fithen would win the Sand Bag toss and finish third in the Sand Bag Load Medley to secure the victory by four points over Butler. Amanda Kelly finished third, and Melissa Edwards placed fourth.
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There were two other divisions on the women’s side. Gabrielle Burgholzer won the middleweight class by a point and a half over second-place finisher Abigail Deal. As for the third division, Rebecca Lorch is the 2020 lightweight champion, having won by three points over runner-up Laura Anderson.
Featured image (left to right): @crowdernmfthepit on Instagram; @beclorch on Instagram
