The 2021 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) event list has been revealed. On May 6, 2021, WSM sent a press release with the information. The event — now taking place in Sacramento, CA, from June 15-20 — will see 25 men compete in epic contests such as a Train Pull, Pickaxe Hold, and, to no one’s surprise, Atlas Stones. In total, athletes will complete 14 events across five grueling days.
Here is the full list of events:
2021 WSM Events
Here’s a complete rundown of every event on every day of competition at the 2021 WSM.
Qualifying Round — Day One
Qualifying Round — Day Two
- Fingal’s Fingers
- Train Pull
Qualifying Round — Day Three
- Overhead Medley
- Pickaxe Hold
- Stone Off
Final — Day One
- Giant’s Medley
- Titan’s Turntable
- REIGN Keg Toss
Final — Day Two
- Log Lift
- KNAACK Deadlift
- Atlas Stones
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As usual, the WSM event line-up includes classic movements such as the log lift, medley, and stone events, mixed in with more unique movements. Notably, this is the first event ever to feature Titan’s Turntable. Athletes are tasked with pushing an antique locomotive —the 19th century JW Bowker steam engine, to be precise — 180 degrees. The train will be placed on the California State Railroad Museum Turntable, which was built in 1911.
Four-time WSM winner Brian Shaw also predicted that Fingal’s Fingers would return to competition — and he was right. This event is named after the mythological Gaelic hunter-warrior Fingal, written about in the 18th-century epic poem Fingal, an Ancient Epic Poem in Six Books by James Macpherson. Athletes need to lift a series of large pipes and drive each over a fulcrum. The event debuted in 2000 and was last seen at the 2017 WSM.
The Keg Toss and last Deadlift are sponsored by REIGN and KNAACK, which produces job site boxes. On the second qualifying day, the Train Pull will have athletes race 20 meters while pulling a train car that weighs between 50 and 80 tons. It will be the first time a train pull has been in WSM since 2003.
2021 WSM Roster
The 2020 WSM proved to be competitive despite the absence of 2019 WSM Martins Licis and a few other notable names. 2021 Should be no different. Licis is again opting out of the WSM as he’s recovering from injury. Mateusz Kieliszkowski, who also couldn’t compete in 2020, is out, as is Nick Best.
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In total, 19 of the athletes competing in 2021 competed in 2020, including many big names. Brian Shaw — who is hosting his own event two months after WSM — will return. As will 2020 WSM winner Oleksii Novikov, Luke and Tom Stoltman, JF Caron, who placed third last year, and up-and-comer Bobby Thompson, who recently claimed the American log press record at the 2021 Clash on the Coast.
Here is the full roster:
- Gavin Bilton — Great Britain
- Adam Bishop — Great Britain
- Maxime Boudreault — Canada
- JF Caron — Canada
- Kevin Faires — USA
- Mark Felix — Great Britain
- Johnny Hansson — Sweden
- Graham Hicks — Great Britain
- Terry Hollands — Great Britain
- Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Iceland
- Konstantine Janashia — Georgia
- Trey Mitchell — USA
- Oleksii Novikov — Ukraine
- Robert Oberst — USA
- Travis Ortmayer — USA
- Jerry Pritchett — USA
- Luke Richardson — Great Britain
- Brian Shaw — USA
- Mikhail Shivlyakov — Russia
- Evan Singleton — USA
- Aivars Smaukstelis — Latvia
- Luke Stoltman — Great Britain
- Tom Stoltman — Great Britain
- Bobby Thompson — USA
- Chris van der Linde — South Africa
On to the 2021 WSM
World’s Strongest Man’s move to Sacramento, CA is a part of a multi-year deal with the Visit Sacramento Sports Commission (VSSC). WSM will return to the city in 2022 and a yet-to-be-mentioned third year. The 2019 and 2020 WSM events took place in Bradenton, FL, and haven’t been hosted in California since 2014.
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The entire WSM contest will be broadcast on the CBS Sports Network and CBS Television Network at a later date, following the event’s completion. In 2020, WSM was broadcast to 70 different countries and territories and accrued close to 500 million household views.
In 2020, WSM offered behind-the-scenes coverage, including results, on Facebook. There is no information on how WSM will be releasing results for the 2021 event.
Featured image: @theworldsstrongestman on Instagram