Day Two of the 2022 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest garnered a unique bit of trivia immediately — Evan Singleton returned to the competition after withdrawing on Day One following the Loading Race. He re-entered in time to compete in the Car Walk event on a sunny Wednesday morning with temperatures in the mid-70s.
Most of the Group leaders’ abilities in the more agility-based events of Day One — Loading Race and Deadlift Ladder — pushed them to the top. They will be tested in the two heavier events on Day Two — the Car Walk and the Log Lift. Tom Stoltman, Rob Kearney, Evan Singleton, Pavlo Kordiyaka, and Mitchell Hooper were the five winners of the Car Walk. Below are the Car Walk results:
[Related: 2022 World’s Strongest Man Results and Leaderboard]
Car Walk Results
Athletes were tasked with carrying a red Volkswagen Bug that weighed 430 kilograms (950 pounds) down a 20-meter course as fast as possible.
Group 1
- Tom Stoltman — 14.65 seconds
- Gabriel Rhéaume — 16.44 seconds
- Kevin Faires — 19.32 seconds
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 19.91 seconds
- Andy Black — 32.71 seconds
- Manuel Angulo — 60 seconds
Angulo and Black got to test their hand at the Car Walk first in heat one. The crowd ogled at how big Black is as he maneuvered into the car.
Angulo struggled to maintain his midline, and the car swayed back and forth down the course. Black was smoother in his movement, but both men dropped the frame simultaneously. Black ultimately got across the finish line in 32.71 seconds, while Angulo appeared inches short.
Faires and Šmaukstelis got in line for heat two. Faires appeared in the zone, and Šmaukstelis seemed relaxed. Together they shot out of the gate with cheers from the crowd.
Like Angulo, Šmaukstelis struggled to keep the car from swaying but kept pace with Faires. The pair crossed the finish line in a photo finish. Official times were 19.91 seconds for the Latvian and 19.32 seconds for the American.
Rhéaume got the chance to run against the reigning WSM champion, Tom Stoltman, in the final heat for Group 1. Stoltman appeared to endure a hiccup early, but he recovered, and it was smooth sailing through the finish line in an event-winning time of 14.65 seconds.
Rhéaume had a steady run to earn second-place points with a time of 16.44 seconds. A strong showing with one event left before the Stone-Off.
Group 2
- Mitchell Hooper — 11.64 seconds
- Mark Felix — 13.96 seconds
- Bobby Thompson — 16.05 seconds
- Konstantine Janashia — 18.16 seconds
- Brian Shaw — 19.97 seconds
- Gabriel Peña — did not finish
Shaw and Janashia stepped onto the stage for heat one in Group 2. Before their matchup, Oleksii Novikov stepped onto the stage to get a feel for the car and request a height adjustment prior to his heat in Group 3.
The “Georgian Bull” and Shaw got underway. Janashia crossed the finish line first using a short-step strategy that kept his midline straight down the course. Shaw battled the sway of the car the entire event, and it seemed to cost him precious time. Final scores were 19.97 seconds for Shaw and 18.16 seconds for Janashia.
Heat two saw a clash between the “Miracle Man” Mark Felix and the “Texas Titan” Gabriel Peña. Felix rushed out the gate and absolutely blitzed the course — a super-fast finish in a time of 13.96 seconds worthy of celebrating on top of the vehicle.
On the other side of the course, Peña could not get any momentum and failed to complete the course within the time cap.
The final heat featured the group’s leader Hooper against Thompson. Hooper entered the event with a flawless record of two event wins from Day One and aimed to maintain that through Day Two, but Felix’s time made it a tall order.
Both men blazed down the course, but Hooper claimed the lead. The pace of both men appeared like they were running, and their times reflected that. Thompson closed in 16.05 seconds, and Hooper took the event win with a time of 11.64 seconds.
Group 3
- Rob Kearney — 11.63 seconds
- Grzegorz Szymanski — 14.26 seconds
- Oleksii Novikov — 15.23 seconds
- Trey Mitchell — 19.24 seconds
- Adam Bishop — 23.38 seconds
- Mika Törrö — did not finish
Group 3’s heats began when temperatures built to the mid-80s. Heat one featured Törrö against Szymanski, both outfitted in baseball caps to fend off the hot sun’s rays.
Szymanski had his cleanest performance of the competition so far, taking the car from end to end unbroken in 14.26 seconds.
Törrö did not fare as well. He struggled to lift the car at the starting whistle and couldn’t traverse the vehicle beyond the halfway mark.
Mitchell and Kearney stepped onto the course for heat two. They entered the day with seven and five points, respectively, and needed stellar performances in the Car Walk to keep their WSM Final hopes alive.
Kearney did not mess around and sped down the course disregarding the heavy swing of the car. Mitchell wasn’t as fast but still posted a quick run. Official times were 19.24 seconds for Mitchell and 11.63 seconds for Kearney.
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The final heat pitted Novikov against Bishop. Like Hooper and Tom Stoltman, Novikov aimed to maintain his unblemished record thus far in the competition. It would be difficult, as Kearney’s time was the fastest of any athlete up to this point.
Both men sprinted down the course. Novikov managed to go unbroken but slipped over the line into Bishop’s lane. Bishop had to drop the car on a pair of occasions but still crossed the finish in 23.38 seconds. Novikov scored a time of 15.23 seconds.
Kearney scored some much-needed first-place points to help offset his blunder in the Loading Race. Szymanski claiming second place was an additional boon for Kearney, who has his forte in the Log Lift coming later on Day Two.
Group 4
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 12.92 seconds
- Martins Licis — 18.93 seconds
- Gavin Bilton — 23.67 seconds
- Maxime Boudreault — 49.28 seconds
- Nedžmin Ambešković — did not finish
- Shane Flowers — withdrew
Right before Group 3’s heats, WSM announced that Flowers withdrew from the competition. During the Loading Race, he suffered an injury and was seen wearing a medical boot on his left foot and ankle at the end of Day One.
That left Ambešković to run heat one alone. After two last-place finishes, he needed to big showing on Day Two to move up the leaderboard.
Ambešković dropped the car twice before the halfway mark but continued to churn away. He made it down about 75 percent of the course before the whistle blew.
Heat two paired Kordiyaka against Boudreault. Licis seemed to have a soft lock on the group after two event wins on Day One, but there was still time for the Ukrainian or the Canadian to challenge Bilton’s hold on second place.
Kordiyaka was very fast at the starting whistle and cleared the course in a winning time of 12.92 seconds.
Boudreault had difficulty lifting the car and then dropped it at the halfway mark. He roared as he picked it up again to carry it the rest of the course and was ultimately successful with a time of 49.28 seconds.
The last heat for Group 4 paired Licis and Bilton. Bilton aimed to overtake the group’s overall lead, and Licis sought to fend him off.
Bilton was slow and steady down the course, taking it through unbroken in 23.67 seconds. Licis was more aggressive and paid for it by stumbling early and dropping the car. Licis was fast to restart, though, and scored a time of 18.93 seconds.
Group 5
- Evan Singleton —9.86 seconds
- Luke Stoltman — 16.65 seconds
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf —
- Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 29.07 seconds
- Kelvin De Ruiter — 60 seconds
- Kim Ujarak — did not finish (11.4 meters)
Singleton’s return placed him in the first heat of Group 5 against De Ruiter. Both men destroyed the opening section, but only Singleton made it all the way down the course unfettered.
Singleton made easy work of the course in a staggering time of 9.86 seconds. De Ruiter struggled but made it to the finish line in one minute.
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Heat two featured Melsted versus Ujarak. Neither man struggled to lift the car, but both had difficulty taking it down the course.
Melsted twisted about during his run but crossed the finish line in a time of 29.07 seconds. Ujarak’s run looked more like a squat session as he could not get clear the halfway mark by the time the whistle blew.
The final heat of the Car Walk was between Luke Stoltman and Coraboeuf. Stoltman had yet to taste defeat in the competition and posted a fast run that was only hindered by a regroup towards the finish line.
Stoltman scored a time of 16.65 seconds before cheering on Coraboeuf, who cleared the course in 41.34 seconds.
Onto the Log Lift
The Log Lift is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. PST to close out Day Two of competition. Day three features the Wrecking Ball Hold at 8:00 a.m. PST followed by the Stone-Off at 1:30 p.m. PST, where the second and third-ranked strongmen in each group will battle head-to-head for a spot in the 2022 WSM Final. The 2022 WSM Final is scheduled for May 28-29, 2022.
Featured image via @theworldsstrongestman on Instagram
