The opening event of the 2025 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) contest was the Loading Medley. The five strongmen in each five-athlete group were tasked with loading four implements weighing 130 kilograms (287 pounds) in the fastest time possible — the first implement travels five meters, the second travels 10 meters, the third travels 15 meters, and the fourth travels 20 meters.
Athletes entered the Sacramento arena in partly sunny, mid-80°F heat to the view of a large crowd, with additional bleacher seating absent in previous WSM contests in Sacramento. And every spectator was there for one reason: to see some really big lifts.
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2025 World’s Strongest Man Loading Medley Results
Here are the winners for each group:
- Tom Stoltman
- Mitchell Hooper
- Shane Flowers
- Ondra Fojtů
- Pavlo Kordiyaka
Group One
- Tom Stoltman (UK) — Four in 38.71 seconds
- Eddie Williams (AUS) — Four in 44.7 seconds
- Thomas Evans (USA) — Four in 48.58 seconds
- Jaco Schoonwinkel (RSA) — Four in 50.34 seconds
- Austin Andrade (MEX) — Four in 53.33 seconds
Group Two
- Mitchell Hooper (CAN) — Four in 38.6 seconds
- Paddy Haynes (UK) — Four in 41.26 seconds
- Mathew Ragg (NZL) — Four in 43.79 seconds
- Wesley Derwinsky (CAN) — Four in 49.14 seconds
- Bryce Johnson (USA) — Four in 51.83 seconds
Group Three
- Shane Flowers (UK) — Four in 40.13 seconds
- Rayno Nel (RSA) — Four in 42.36 seconds
- Evans Nana (GHA) — Four in 44.9 seconds
- Mateusz Kieliszkowski (POL) — Four in 46.28 seconds
- Lucas Hatton (USA) — Four in 48.49 seconds
Group Four
- Ondra Fojtů (CZE) — Four in 42.55 seconds
- Maxime Boudreault (CAN) — Four in 42.81 seconds
- Trey Mitchell (USA) — Four in 49.38 seconds
- Tristain Hoath (CAN) — Four in 51.6 seconds
- Luke Richardson (UK) — two in 13.53 seconds; withdrew due to right biceps injury
Group Five
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (UKR) — 38.61 seconds
- Luke Stoltman (UK) — Four in 41.21 seconds
- Nick Guardione (USA) — Four in 41.34 seconds
- Andrew Flynn (UK) — Four in 45.66 seconds
- Evan Singleton (USA) — two in 14.25 seconds, withdrew due to right biceps injury
[Related: Every Winner of the World’s Strongest Man Competition]
2025 World’s Strongest Man Loading Medley Recap
The competition stage was a platform built on the street that passes through the California Railroad Museum. The athletes loaded for sandbags, the first of which was shaped like a Husafell Stone; the others were cylindrical sacks that they placed into the open trunk of Cybertrucks. Athletes ran in two-man heats.
Group One
Group One kicked off with Evans versus Schoonwinkel. They were chalked to the nines and bore the burden of not seeing anyone else run the event before them.
They started with the closest implement first and were synchronized with the second bag. A drop by Schoonwinkel at the truck allowed Evans to take the lead. Schoonwinkel made up some time by the end, but it wasn’t enough to take the heat — he shook his head in presumed disgust for the early blunder.
In heat two, Andrade faced Tom Stoltman, who was the first athlete to wear a lifting belt in the event.
Stoltman got a blistering start, tossing the first two bags onto the truck from a distance. He lapped Andrade by the final bag and never let up — a dominant heat for the defending champion.
Williams ran the third heat solo, arguably a disadvantage without having someone to race against, but he had the luxury of knowing the times to beat. He was swift through the first two bags and held pace until slowing toward the end of the third bag. He lumbered the fourth bag to the truck, but a clean run kept him toward the top end of the group.
Group Two
The second group opened with Hooper versus Haynes. They knew Stoltman’s time to beat, but they encountered hotter conditions as the Sacramento sun moved toward the center sky.
Hooper was the first athlete to wear a cap to block out the sun from his vision. He appeared to struggle on the first implement but then turned on the jets. Haynes did his best to keep up, but Hooper’s pace was too much. Hooper lost a second at the end with a tight release but still took down the heat and ousted Stoltman’s time by a tenth of a second.
Derwinsky and Ragg took the stage next. The former was the second to sport a cap, though he wore it backward, and the first to wear gloves.
Ragg fell a hair behind Derwinsky on the first bag but caught up by the third and took the lead by the fourth. Ragg left his mouthpiece on his ear the whole time, but it didn’t throw off his fourth-fastest time of the day thus far.
Johnson ran the solo heat for the group in his debut WSM. A contingent in the crowd, wearing cheeseheads, roared during his entrance. His pace wasn’t as fast as the rest of his group — a downside of not having a heat partner to race against. The crowd kept the energy high despite a tenuous lift of the fourth sandbag to lock in the second slowest time of the day through two groups.
Group Three
Hatton and Flowers ran the first heat for Group Three. Flowers had a statement to make after having withdrawn from his previous WSM appearance due to injury. He wore kinesiology tape and a band on his right knee during the heat.
As a shorter athlete during the lifts, Hatton had an advantage as there was less distance to a secure position. However, it also meant more strides to cover the course. Ultimately, Hatton gassed out toward the end after a fast start; Flowers stayed steady from start to finish.
Kieliszkowski versus Nel ran heat two. Both scorched the opening bag. Nel’s athleticism was on display while Kieliszkowski mistakenly dropped the third bag prematurely by his truck.
Nel took the heat but was a few seconds behind Flowers’ time. “Shake it off,” yelled a fan at Kieliszkowski, who knew he could have performed better in an event that favored his strengths.
Evans Nana ran the solo heat and was pumped to get the crowd hyped. He was smooth through each implement, though the third appeared clunkier than the first two. The final bag required a couple of hitches to get into position, but he closed the session in emotional fashion, signing his gratitude to the fans.
Group Four
Mitchell and Richardson took the stage. Mitchell appeared leaner than the bulkier physique he sported in previous WSM contests, perhaps knowing the speed required to perform well through this year’s group stage. While Mitchell’s shape was displayed, Richardson held the lead until he failed to lift the third sandbag, signaling to medical of a biceps tear — that was presumably the end of Richardson’s 2025 WSM campaign.
Fojtů was on a mission, hurling his sandbags well before reaching the truck. Hoath struggled to keep up, even when Fojtů took a short break before lifting the fourth bag. Fojtů’s pace wasn’t surprising but might have been the upset story of the event, as he scored the group win.
Boudreault ran the lone heat, returning to the arena where he scored his WSM podium in 2021. He chose to lift the first bag vertically instead of the more common horizontally, and it was unclear how much time it cost him. A fast fourth bag led to him pacing the stage, confident that he took the lead — his time of 42.81 seconds was almost that.
Group Five
Flynn and Singleton entered the arena with differing energies. Flynn was eager to check the implements and cement his plan before taking the start position. Singleton entered like he smelled what the Rock was cookin’, taking in the crowd with an aura that suggested they did the same to him.
Flynn had the speed, but Singleton had the power. The heat took a sudden turn when Singleton clung to his left biceps in agony, clearly injured. Medical personnel escorted him off the competition floor.
Luke Stoltman and Guardione entered the penultimate heat. Tom Stoltman was on the sidelines cheering on his brother, who fell a pair of strides behind Guardione early. Luke made up the distance on the last sprint and was hyped after a photo finish.
Kordiyaka was the final competitor to run. He entered as a favorite to win the overall event. His pace did not seem rushed or uncertain — it was a clean run that earned him the group win.
More to Come
The next event is the Deadlift for Reps scheduled for 2 p.m. PST. Day one of the competition will close with the Rogue Overhead Medley at 5 p.m. PST.
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Featured image courtesy of World’s Strongest Man
