The 2024 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) competition occurs on May 1-5, 2024 in Myrtle Beach, SC. One week before the contest kicks off, WSM promoters announced that Shane Flowers and Kristján Jón Haraldsson withdrew from the 2024 WSM contest.
Flowers posted on his Instagram page that he is recovering from surgery for a torn biceps. He was coming off a fifth-place finish at the 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM), won by Luke Stoltman. The 2024 WSM would have been Flowers’ second career WSM appearance. He competed 2022 edition but withdrew during Qualifying.
Haraldson shared on his Instagram story that he was waiting for an MRI result to diagnose a knee injury suffered in training. No official diagnosis was shared at the time of this article’s publication. Haraldson won his second Iceland’s Strongest Man title in 2023. The 2024 WSM would have been his second WSM appearance as well. He competed in 2023; eliminated in Qualifying.
WSM made their announcement on April 23, 2024, on their Instagram page, which can be seen below:
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There has not been word on who the replacements will be for Flowers and Haraldsson at the time of this article’s publication. They are the fourth and fifth athletes to have bowed out of the contest. 2019 WSM champion Martins Licis withdrew due to sciatica, 2020 WSM champion Oleksii Novikov was injured during the 2024 ESM contest, and. two-time WSM runner-up Mateusz Kieliszkowski is out due to a torn Achilles.
The remaining 28 athletes set to compete in Myrtle Beach are listed below. Among them are two-time WSM winner Tom Stoltman and defending champion Mitchell Hooper.
2024 World’s Strongest Man Roster
- Tom Stoltman
- Rob Kearney
- Oskar Ziółkowski
- Mitchell Hooper — Defending Champion
- Evan Singleton
- Rauno Heinla
- Mathew Ragg
- Gavin Bilton
- Luke Stoltman
- Aivars Šmaukstelis
- Spenser Remick
- Pavlo Kordiyaka
- Jaco Schoonwinkel
- Eddie Williams
- Adam Bishop
- Kane Francis
- Thomas Evans
- Austin Andrade
- Trey Mitchell
- Bobby Thompson
- Marcus Crowder
- Wesley Derwinsky
- Evans Nana Aryee
- Nathan Goltry
- Nicolas Cambi
- Kevin Faires
- Pa O’Dwyer
- Ondrej Fojtu
The 2024 WSM Qualifying stage will take place on May 1-2, 2024. The athletes will have a rest day on May 3 before the 10 WSM Finalists compete on May 4-5, 2024, for the title.
Featured Image: @theworldsstrongestman on Instagram
