Another hurdle has hit the 2020 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) competition. Due to poor weather conditions in Bradenton, FL, caused by hurricane Eta, day one of WSM’s qualifying stage has been canceled. A spokesperson from WSM told BarBend:
“Due to inclement weather conditions, the World’s Strongest Man competition will not take place today. We are continuing to closely monitor the weather and are working with the Holmes Beach Police Department and local authorities to prepare for various scenarios as the situation continues to develop.”
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There was speculation that the WSM competition schedule might have to change due to foreseeably bad weather conditions as the contest is set to take place entirely outdoors. During the first episode of the WSM Facebook Live stream, on Nov. 10, 2020, Event Director Collin Bryce mentioned that the squat event might have to be replaced with a deadlift due to wind.
On the second episode on November 11th, Bryce stated that the schedule was being pushed back a day. This means that all the scheduled events will still take place as intended with the cost being the rest day for the strongmen that was scheduled on Friday. When the full list of WSM events was officially announced, the qualifying stage was to take place on Nov. 11-12, 2020, so that athletes could rest that following Friday before competing in the finals from Nov. 14-15, 2020. Not having a rest day between the qualifying stage and the finals isn’t new as that was the schedule for the 2019 WSM contest as well.
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During Bryce’s event walkthrough with former BarBend Editor Nick English, he mentioned that depending on “how wet” the conditions are, the equipment or events may have to change. Unfortunately, his words have rung true. BarBend will continue to post updates as soon as they are made available.
Featured image: World’s Strongest Man
