Andrew Burton is the 2023 World’s Strongest Firefighter (WSF) champion. The 2023 WSF competition was held in Columbus, OH, on March 3-4, 2023, as a part of the 2023 Arnold Sports Festival. Over 120 competitors competed, and divisions included the Men’s Open, Men’s Under 105 Kilograms (U105), and Women’s.
After preliminary events reduced the field down to 18 (12 Open men, two middleweight men, two women, defending champion Daniel Camacho, and one additional entry), Burton, representing Rockwall Fire Station 1 in Lavon, TX, outlasted the other 17 firefighters across four events to emerge as champion. The top 10 finishers are listed below:
2023 World’s Strongest Firefighter Results
- Andrew Burton
- Brooks Larkin
- Nathan Warfel
- Idelfonso Nieves
- Cameron St. Amand
- Peter Juhasz
- Zack Hash
- Casey Shoe
- Olivier de Launiere
- Harry Walker
The firefighters who advanced were placed into one group, and coefficient percentages were used to provide balanced weights and scoring. 2022 champion Camacho finished 13th overall. Laura Moran was the highest-finishing woman. Julianne Durante won the women’s division in the preliminary round before the finals. Harry Walker placed first in the Men’s U105 group. Both received trophies for their efforts.
The event was streamed live on the Strongman Corporation YouTube channel:
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Ambulance Tire Deadlift
The Saturday finals began on the Expo stage with the Ambulance Tire Deadlift — a tribute to the Hummer Tire Deadlift that was an Arnold Strongman Classic tradition. The most reps lifted in 60 seconds determined the winner. The weights for the athletes, depending on the division they were in, were as follows.
- Women: 167.8 kilograms (370 pounds)
- U105 Men: 238 kilograms (525 pounds)
- Open Men: 272.1 kilograms (600 pounds)
Cameron St. Amand, a Men’s Open competitor, pulled 18 reps with the heaviest weight to take the win. Idelfonso Nieves and Burton came in second overall by two reps. They had to pull the same weight as St. Amand. The division next to the athletes’ names reflects the weight they used:
- Cameron St. Amand (Open) — 18 reps
- Idelfonso Nieves (Open) — 16 reps (T-second)
- Andrew Burton (Open) — 16 reps (T-second)
- Harry Walker (Open) — 14 reps (T-fourth)
- Olivier de Launiere (Open) — 14 reps (T-fourth)
- Casey Shoe (Open) — 13 reps
- Peter Juhasz (Open) — 13 reps (T-seventh)
- Nathan Warfel (Open) — 13 reps (T-seventh)
- Jan Pipis (Middleweight) — 12 reps
- Daniel Camacho (Open) — 11 reps
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Sandbag Carry
The second event required the firefighters to carry sandbags across the stage and back for a total of 40 feet each. The fastest time was rewarded with first-place points. If the competitor couldn’t complete the task, the distance was scored instead. Below are the weights of the sandbags that the athletes had to carry.
- Women: 79.3, 90.7, 100 kilograms (175, 200, 220 pounds)
- U105 and Open Men: 100, 113.7, 136 kilograms (220, 250, 300 pounds)
Open competitor Brooks Larkin won the event with a time of 40.43 seconds. Second place weight to St. Amand, who needed .07 seconds more to get the job done. Nathan Warfel rounded out the top three with a time of 41.99 seconds.
- Brooks Larkin (Open) — 40.43 seconds
- Cameron St. Amand (Open) — 40.5 seconds
- Nathan Warfel (Open) — 41.99 seconds
- Daniel Camacho (Open) — 43.19 seconds
- Andrew Burton (Open) — 43.33 seconds
- Peter Juhasz (Open) — 51.06 seconds
- Idelfonso Nieves (Open) — 58 .6 seconds
- Harry Walker (Open) — 2 bags completed, 47 seconds
- Zack Hash (Middleweight) — 1 bag completed, 30 seconds
- Casey Shoe (Open) — 1 bag completed, 31 seconds
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Axe Hold
Event number three required athletes to hold an axe in each hand out to their sides at shoulder height for max time. Their heads and backs had to stay against a board that was behind them. Weights hung on the handles of the axes to add extra resistance. The axes’ weights are below.
- Women: 6.8 kilograms (15 pounds)
- U105 and Open Men: 11.3 kilograms (25 pounds)
Men’s Open athlete Joseph Voiles held on for 61.38 seconds to take his first win of the finals. U105 competitor Zack Hash finished second by two seconds. Burton came in third place in this event.
- Joseph Voiles (Open) — 61.38 seconds
- Zack Hash (Middleweight) — 59.77 seconds
- Andrew Burton (Open) — 59.7 seconds
- Brooks Larkin (Open) — 59.28 seconds
- Nathan Warfel (Open) — 58.22 seconds
- Mike McGowan (Open) — 57.78 seconds
- Andrew Morales (Middleweight) — 55.69 seconds
- Laura Moran (Women) — 55.31 seconds
- Idelfonso Nieves (Open) — 54.1 seconds
- Casey Shoe (Open) — 53.76 seconds
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Fire Hydrant Load
This is the Firefighter equivalent of the Atlas Stones. The athletes had to lift weighted fire hydrants up to a platform and stand it up vertically before they could move on to the next one. All hydrants had to stand atop their platforms at the end of the event to be scored. The contestant with the quickest time won the event.
- Women: 45.3, 56.6, 68, 79.3 kilograms (100, 125, 150, 175 pounds)
- U105 and Open Men: 79.3, 90.7, 102.5, 113.7 kilograms (175, 200, 225, 250 pounds)
With contest promoter Arnold Schwarzenegger and FUBAR co-star Fortune Feimster in attendance watching, Burton needed the win to take the overall victory, and he did just that. He lifted all four hydrants up in 17.17 seconds to win the championship. Men’s Open athlete Peter Juhasz followed with a time of 18 seconds even. Larkin came in third place by finishing in 18.35 seconds.
- Andrew Burton (Open) — 17.17 seconds
- Peter Juhasz (Open) — 18 seconds
- Brooks Larkin (Open) — 18.35 seconds
- Idelfonso Nieves (Open) — 20.62 seconds
- Nathan Warfel (Open) — 21.88 seconds
- Olivier de Launiere (Open) — 23.12 seconds
- Mike McGowan (Open) — 24.55 seconds
- Casey Shoe (Open) — 26.3 seconds
- Zack Hash (Middleweight) — 28.6 seconds
- Joseph Voiles (Open) — 29.74 seconds
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After the finals were concluded, Burton received the champion’s trophy from Schwarzenegger. All athletes also shook hands with him, and he also handed each a challenge coin in recognition of competing. For more information about the WSF, go to the Arnold Sports Festival website.
Featured Image: @asfworldsstrongestfirefighter on Instagram
