The 2021 Official Strongman Games were held at the Ocean Center Arena in Daytona Beach, FL, over the weekend of Nov. 12-14, 2021. Men and women that were in 11 different divisions took part in four events (Log Lift, Car Walk, Deadlift Ladder, and the Carry and Drag) to determine which athletes would take part in the Finals, where they would compete in the final two events (Bag Over Bag and Atlas Stones). The event was streamed on the Official Strongman website.
Champions Crowned
Athletes from eleven different classes competed in the same events throughout the weekend in Daytona Beach. All champions received their respective trophies and recognition for winning this year’s competition. Those champions are listed below, including four-time World’s Strongest Man, Žydrūnas Savickas, who took the title in the Masters 40 + category, and strongwoman Nadia Stowers, who emerged victorious in the women’s 82-kilogram class.
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- Women 64 Kilograms — Shannon Clifford
- Women 73 Kilograms — Erin Murray
- Women 82 Kilograms — Nadia Stowers
- Women’s Open — Rebecca Roberts
- Women’s Masters — Ayesha Ullah
- Men’s 80 Kilograms — Richard Panganiban
- Men’s 90 Kilograms — Nicolai Myers
- Men’s 105 Kilograms — Nicolas Cambi
- Men’s Open — Pavlo Kordiyaka
- Men’s Masters 40+ — Žydrūnas Savickas
- Men’s Masters 50+ — Michael Saunders
Editor’s Note: This article originally stated that Nicholas O’Hare won the Men’s 90KG division. However, Nicolai Myers won the 90KG division. Both men tied for first, but Myers got the win since he won the Atlas Stone event.
Men’s Open Top 10
In the Men’s Open division, Pavlo Kordiyaka of Ukraine finished in a tie on points with American Spenser Remick. Thanks to having higher placings in more individual events, Kordiyaka was given the tiebreaker and stood atop the podium. Tyler Cotton came in third place overall. The top three finishers have earned qualifications to compete in Giants Live for the 2022 season. The top 10 placings are listed below.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 47 points*
- Spenser Remick — 47 points
- Tyler Cotton — 43 points
- Marcus Crowder — 41.5 points
- Wesley Claborn — 35 points
- Alex Kopp — 29 points
- Sean Hayes — 24 points
- Stuart Graham — 23 points
- Tim Buck — 22 points
- Denys Berezhnyk — 18.5 points
Men’s Open Event Recap
Below is a brief synopsis of how the heavyweight men performed in all six events.
Event 1 — Log Lift
Competitors had 60 seconds to complete as many reps as possible with the 166-kilogram (366-pound) log. The rep had to be locked out overhead and the judge must give a down signal for the rep to count. Wesley Claborn was the only man to complete six reps within the one-minute time limit. Three other men (Kordiyaka, Remick, and Cotton) were able to successfully lift the log five times.
- Wesley Claborn — 6 reps
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 5 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Spenser Remick — 5 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Tyler Cotton — 5 reps (tie for 2nd)
- Marcus Crowder — 4 reps (tie for 5th)
- Denys Berezhnyk — 4 reps (tie for 5th)
- Alex Kopp — 3 reps (tie for 7th)
- Sean Hayes — 3 reps (tie for 7th)
- Tim Buck — 3 reps (tie for 7th)
- Stuart Graham — 2 reps
Event 2 — Car Walk
The men were tasked to walk a 454 kilogram (1,001-pound) car frame down a 15-meter course in the fastest time possible, up to the time cap of 60 seconds. All 10 finalists completed the course in less than 32 seconds. Marcus Crowder impressed everyone in attendance by finishing in just under 10 seconds. Remick and Kordiyaka rounded out the top three.
- Marcus Crowder — 9.99 seconds
- Spenser Remick — 11.02 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 15.41 seconds
- Stuart Graham — 16.26 seconds
- Denys Berezhnyk — 18.82 seconds
- Tim Buck — 20.79 seconds
- Sean Hayes — 23.76 seconds
- Wesley Claborn — 27.44 seconds
- Tyler Cotton — 27.54 seconds
- Alex Kopp — 31.1 seconds
Event 3 — Deadlift Ladder
Five bars with weights ranging from 306 to 386 kilograms (674 to 851 pounds) were lined up for the athletes. They had 60 seconds to complete all five lifts with down signals from the judges. The fastest time determined the winner, and that winner was Crowder, who finished the job in 53.56 seconds. He was the only man to lift all five weights successfully. The runner-up was Remick for the second straight event, and taking third place was Claborn.
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- Marcus Crowder — 53.56 seconds
- Spenser Remick — 4 in 42.7 seconds
- Marcus Claborn — 4 in 50.73 seconds
- Alex Kopp — 3 in 29.42 seconds
- Tyler Cotton — 3 in 30.02 seconds
- Sean Hayes — 3 in 30.11 seconds
- Stuart Graham — 3 in 33.51 seconds
- Tim Buck — 3 in 37.57 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 3 in 52.22 seconds
- Denys Berezhnyk — 1 in 13.86 seconds
Event 4 — Carry and Drag
This classic medley event featured a 136 kilogram (300 pound) sack, a 147-kilogram (324-pound) shield, and a sled drag. The athletes had 90 seconds to carry the first two objects and drag the sled down the 15-meter course. Kordiyaka struggled in the deadlift event, but he made up for that with a winning effort here. He only needed 37.67 seconds to finish the event and take the win. Second and third places went to Kopp and Cotton, respectively. All 10 men were able to finish in less than one minute.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 37.67 seconds
- Alex Kopp — 38.61 seconds
- Tyler Cotton — 39.83 seconds
- Spenser Remick — 41.91 seconds
- Marcus Crowder — 42.85 seconds
- Sean Hayes — 43.51 seconds
- Stuart Graham — 48.64 seconds
- Denys Berezhnyk — 50.98 seconds
- Tim Buck — 51.47 seconds
- Wesley Claborn — 55.22 seconds
Event 5 — Bag Over Bar
The final two events took place on Sunday, Nov. 14, 2021. The first event of the day was the Bag Over Bar. The weights of the bags ranged from 18 to 27 kilograms (40 to 59.5 pounds), and each man had to toss it over a bar 4.54 meters high. Four of the 10 men completed all six bags, but none were faster than Kordiyaka, who finished in 20 seconds. Americans Cotton and Remick took the silver and bronze spots in this event.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 20.07 seconds
- Tyler Cotton — 20.64 seconds
- Spenser Remick — 24.89 seconds
- Marcus Crowder — 25.97 seconds
- Stuart Graham — 5 in 17.69 seconds
- Wesley Claborn — 5 in 20.67 seconds
- Tim Buck — 5 in 29.67 seconds
- Sean Hayes — 4 in 17.2 seconds
- Alex Kopp — 4 in 22.8 seconds
- Denys Berezhnyk — 3 in 11.89 seconds
Event 6 — Atlas Stones
As the finalists came down the home stretch, the legendary Atlas Stones awaited them, waiting to be placed on their respective pedestals. The weights of the six stones ranged from 136 to 193 kilograms (300 to 425 pounds), and they had to be lifted and placed in 75 seconds. Cotton was able to win the final event of the competition with a time of 42.28 seconds.
Kordiyaka was the only other man to successfully lift all six stones, and he came in second place, resulting in an overall tie on points. Kordiyaka’s overall performance with more victories gave him the title of Official Strongman Games Champion. Third place in the final event went to Claborn.
- Tyler Cotton — 42.28 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 44.1 seconds
- Wesley Claborn — 5 in 25.36 seconds
- Alex Kopp — 5 in 44.33 seconds
- Spenser Remick — 5 in 52.04 seconds
- Tim Buck — 4 in 26.14 seconds
- Sean Hayes — 4 in 27.66 seconds
- Marcus Crowder — 4 in 29.61 seconds
- Denys Berezhnyk — 3 in 24.78 seconds
- Stuart Graham — 3 in 44.23 seconds
Featured Image: @officialstrongman_ on Instagram | Photo by @blackjack.images on Instagram