2023 World’s Strongest Man Day One Results — Mitchell Hooper Hat Tricks

Day One of the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) is in the books. Three events were on the agenda: the Loading Race, the Deadlift Machine, and the Log Ladder. The five groups of six athletes were raring to shake off the nerves and compete for the large crowds under clear blue skies with an ocean view at the Burroughs & Chapin Pavilion Place in Myrtle Beach, SC.

The big story kicking off the day was the withdrawal of Cheick “Iron Biby” Sanou from the competition due to injury. The 2022 Iceland’s Strongest Man Kristján Jón Haraldsson got the nod to enter the contest.

2023 World’s Strongest Man Standings — End of Day One

The standings at the end of Day One are below:

Group One

1. Tom Stoltman — 15.5 points
2. Bobby Thompson— 14.5 points
3. Pavlo Kordiyaka — 13 points
4. Konstantine Janashia — 9.5 points
5. Eddie Williams — six points
6. Pa O’Dwyer — five points

Group Two

1. Oleksii Novikov — 16 points
2. Thomas Evans — 14 points
3. Luke Stoltman — 12 points
4. Gavin Bilton — nine points
5. Kristján Jón Haraldsson — 8.5 points
6. Fadi El Masri — 3.5 points

Group Three

1. Mitchell Hooper — 18 points
2. Mathew Ragg — 13.5 points
3. Aivars Šmaukstelis — 10.5 points
4. Graham Hicks — 9.5 points
5. Spenser Remick — 6.5 points
6. Mateusz Kieliszkowski — five points

Group Four

1. Brian Shaw — 15.5 points
2. Rauno Heinla — 14.5 points
3. Jaco Schoonwinkel —14 points
4. Adam Bishop — eight points
5. Kevin Faires — 5.5 points
6. Gabriel Rhéaume — 5.5 points

Group Five

1. Trey Mitchell — 16 points
2. Evan Singleton — 15.5 points
3. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 11.5 points
4. Mark Felix — 7.5 points
5. Paul Smith — 7 points
6. Jean-Stephan Coraboeuf — 5.5 points

[Related: 2023 World’s Strongest Man Results and Leaderboard]

[Related: Cardio for Strongmen and Strongwomen to Supercharge Your Conditioning]

2023 World’s Strongest Man Day One Results

Below are the results for each of the groups from Day One’s three events:

Event One: “Loading Race” Results

The 30 strongmen attempted to load a 265-pound sandbag Husafell for six meters, a 265-pound heavy sandbag for four meters, a 275-pound anvil, and two log bundles weighing 234 pounds and 253 pounds onto a platform as fast as possible within the 90-second time cap.

Group One

1. Pavlo Kordiyaka — five in 41.38 seconds
2. Tom Stoltman — five in 43.83 seconds
3. Bobby Thompson— five in 56.56 seconds
4. Konstantine Janashia — 61.1 seconds
5. Pa O’Dwyer — 65.89 seconds
6. Eddie Williams — five in 66.04 seconds

Group Two

1. Oleksii Novikov — five in 52.15 seconds 
2. Kristján Jón Haraldsson — five in 54.58 seconds
3. Thomas Evans — five in 57.40 seconds
4. Luke Stoltman — five in 62.78 seconds
5. Gavin Bilton — five in 63.01 seconds
6. Fadi El Masri — four in 49.57 seconds

Group Three

1. Mitchell Hooper— five in 42.05 seconds
2. Aivars Šmaukstelis — five in 52.71 seconds
3. Mathew Ragg — five in 58.72 seconds
4. Spenser Remick — five in 67.15 seconds
5. Mateusz Kieliszkowski — five in 67.53 seconds
6. Graham Hicks — four in 53.4 seconds

Group Four

1. Jaco Schoonwinkel — five in 47.1 seconds
2. Rauno Heinla — five in 51.41 seconds
3. Brian Shaw — five in 53.7 seconds
4. Adam Bishop — four in 43.12 seconds
5. Gabriel Rhéaume — four in 51.03 seconds
6. Kevin Faires — three in 65.3 seconds

Group Five

1. Evan Singleton — five in 46.9 seconds
2. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — five in 56.41 seconds
3. Trey Mitchell — five in 66.64 seconds
4. Paul Smith — four in 44.79 seconds
5. Mark Felix — four in  54.32 seconds
6. Jean-Stephan Coraboeuf — three in 40.63 seconds

Kordiyaka proved to the world that his 2023 Europe’s Strongest Man victory was no fluke. He posted the fastest time in the field, less than one second ahead of Mitchell Hooper’s winning time in Group Three.

Speaking of Hooper, this was his first of three consecutive event wins on Day One. He is the only athlete to remain undefeated in Myrtle Beach.

Jaco Schoonwinkel of South Africa put his name on the map, clearing all five implements faster than anyone else in his group, including four-time WSM Brian Shaw. He remains a threat heading into Day Two to contest for a spot in the Stone-Off and potentially even win the group outright.

Event Two: “Deadlift Machine” Results

All the athletes attempted to deadlift the following progression of weights:

• Deadlift One — 281 kilograms
• Deadlift Two — 298 kilograms
• Deadlift Three — 312 kilograms
• Deadlift Four — 329 kilograms
• Deadlift Five — 345 kilograms
• Deadlift Six — 362 kilograms
• Deadlift Seven and Above — 379 kilograms

Time was not part of the scoring for this event; only total reps mattered.

Group One

1. Bobby Thompson— seven reps
2. Tom Stoltman — six reps (T-second)
3. Konstantine Janashia — six reps (T-second)
4. Pavlo Kordiyaka — five reps (T-fourth)
5. Pa O’Dwyer — five reps (T-fourth)
6. Eddie Williams — five reps (T-fourth)

Group Two

1. Oleksii Novikov — six reps
2. Thomas Evans — five reps (T-second)
3. Luke Stoltman — five reps (T-second)
4. Gavin Bilton — five reps (T-second)
5. Kristjan Jon Haraldsson — four reps (T-fifth)
6. Fadi El Masri — four reps (T-fifth)

Group Three

1. Mitchell Hooper— eight reps
2. Matthew Ragg — seven reps (T-second)
3. Graham Hicks — seven reps (T-second)
4. Aivars Šmaukstelis — five reps (T-fourth)
5. Spenser Remick — five reps (T-fourth)
6. Mateusz Kieliszkowski — four reps

Group Four

1. Rauno Heinla — eight reps (T-first)
2. Brian Shaw — eight reps (T-first)
3. Adam Bishop — seven reps
4. Jaco Schoonwinkel — six reps
5. Gabriel Rhéaume — five reps (T-fifth)
6. Kevin Faires — five reps (T-fifth)

Group Five

1. Trey Mitchell — eight reps
2. Evan Singleton — six reps (T-second)
3. Mark Felix — six reps (T-second)
4. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — five reps (T-fourth)
5. Jean-Stephan Coraboeuf — five reps (T-fourth)
6. Paul Smith — four reps

The fulcrum of the deadlift machine was positioned at its base, meaning that the weight felt heavier the higher off the ground it was and drove the athletes backward. Strongman after strongman repositioned their feet during their first rep once they felt where the center of gravity at lockout was.

This made successfully pulling rep seven a monumental task. Thompson, in Group One, was the first to succeed in that endeavor. Hooper proved that eight reps was possible.

Shaw and Heinla’s showdown in Group Four was highlight-reel-worthy as both men locked out eight reps to a roaring crowd. Mitchell closed the event on a high of eight reps, keeping Singleton, who lifted after him, at arm’s reach.

Event Three: “Log Ladder” Results

The 30 strongmen were tasked with clean and pressing five logs weighing 275, 310, 350, 375, and 400 pounds as fast as possible in the 75-second time cap.

Group One

1. Tom Stoltman — five in 41.56 seconds
2. Pavlo Kordiyaka — five in 46 seconds
3. Bobby Thompson— four in 25.83 seconds
4. Eddie Williams — four in 55.89 seconds
5. Konstantine Janashia — four in 68.39 seconds
6. Pa O’Dwyer — three in 25.8 seconds

Group Two

1. Thomas Evans — five in 38.96 seconds
2. Luke Stoltman — five in 52.76 seconds
3. Oleksii Novikov — four in 32.50 seconds
4. Gavin Bilton — four in 56.84 seconds
5. Kristjan Jon Haraldsson — two in 16.28 seconds
6. Fadi El Masri — two in 17.43 seconds

Group Three

1. Mitchell Hooper — five in 39.51 seconds
2. Matthew Ragg — five in 55.84 seconds
3. Graham Hicks — four in 28.31 seconds
4. Aivars Šmaukstelis — four in 30.44 seconds
5. Mateusz Kieliszkowski — four in 33.24 seconds
6. Spenser Remick — four in 38.79 seconds

Group Four

1. Brian Shaw — four in 33.99 seconds
2. Jaco Schoonwinkel — four in 34.77 seconds
3. Rauno Heinla — three in 21.6 seconds
4. Kevin Faires — three in 28.93 seconds
5. Gabriel Rhéaume — three in 32.96 seconds
6. Adam Bishop — three in 33.25 seconds

Group Five

1. Trey Mitchell — five in 39.44 seconds
2. Evan Singleton — four in 35.48 seconds
3. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — four in 39.93 seconds
4. Paul Smith — four in 45.84 seconds
5. Jean-Stephan Coraboeuf — three in 22.34 seconds
6. Mark Felix — one in 7.58 seconds

A top log of 400 pounds as a fifth lift under time pressure is a massive ask. For reference as to how heavy that is, Thompson’s current American log lift record is 478.5 pounds.

With standings tightening up amongst the top competitors, the energy was hot from the jump. Tom Stoltman and Thompson had a clash for the ages in the final heat of Group One that saw the American unexpectedly miss his attempt on the fifth log, leaving enough time for the two-time defending WSM to lockout an event-winning time.

Evans in Group Two continued to show his prowess in overhead events and that he is a legitimate WSM Final contender. He grows more and more confident with each event and is likely to remain a threat for the rest of the competition. He scored the fastest time in the field as the first athlete to finish sub-40 seconds.

Hooper continued his dominance in Group Three after nearly falling face-first from tripping over the first log. The day closed with a scorcher between Mitchell and Singleton in Group Five, but the Texan is undeniable in heavy events.

Day Two Incoming

Three more events are left to determine the 2023 WSM Final roster. Two and a half points separate Tom Stoltman, Thompson, and Kordiyaka at the top of Group One. Four points separate Novikov, Evans, and Luke Stoltman in Group Two.

Hooper’s flawless run on Day One opened up a 4.5-point lead over Ragg and a 7.5-point lead over Šmaukstelis. As long as Hooper can avoid disaster, it’s his group to lose.

Shaw closes Day One of his final WSM in the lead, but only a point and a half separate him, Heinla, and Schoonwinkel. This is the tightest group in the competition.

Group Five is currently a two-man battle for the win between Mitchell and Singleton. The former holds a point-and-a-half lead over the latter. Ingolfsson Melsted has a four-point buffer on both sides and can safely play defense on Day Two to secure a spot in his Group’s Stone-Off.

Speaking of, the Stone-Off is the final event of the Qualifying stage. It will be preceded by the Kettlebell Toss and Conan’s Wheel, which kicks off the day at 8:00 a.m. EST.

Featured image courtesy of World’s Strongest Man.