On August 13th, 4-time World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion Brian Shaw announced that he would host and compete in a new strongman competition called the Shaw Classic. It is currently set to take place on December 12th in Shaw’s gym in Colorado.
On September 3rd, Shaw took to his YouTube channel to share the list of six events that will be included in the Shaw Classic. The events are:
- Max Log Lift
- A custom log is being designed for the event
- Super Yoke
- 500kg/1,102lb (subject to change)
- Farmer’s Medley
- 3 lengths — 2 with farmer’s logs and 1 with a frame — weights TBD
- Max Hummer Tire Deadlift
- Shaw commissioned a barbell specifically this event — one of only 2 in the world (the other is used for the Arnold Classic)
- Circus Dumbbell for Reps
- Approximately 113kg/250lb (subject to change)
- Head-to-head event
- Atlas Stones
- 6-8 stones, weights TBD
Shaw discusses his reasoning behind the choice of each event in the video below:
One of the main factors that influenced Shaw’s decisions for events was the feel of classic compeititon:
I tried to pick very straightforward events that go back to the roots of the sport of strongman.
In addition to announcing the events, Shaw also revealed who the referees will be:
- 2004 America’s Strongest Man Van Hatfield
- 2013 Master’s America’s Strongest Man Chad Coy
Both men have been in the sport of strongman for a long time, and Shaw expressed his confidence that they would be able to make the tough calls that referees are often challenged to make during competition.
The epic line-up of strongman that will compete in the inaugural Shaw Classic includes:
- 4-time WSM Zydrunas Savickas
- current log lift world record holder
- 2019 WSM runner-up Mateusz Kieliszkowski
- 2019 Arnold Australia champion Rob Kearney
- current American log lift record holder
- 2020 Britain’s Strongest Man Adam Bishop
- Former American log lift record holder Robert Oberst
- 2-time WSM bronze medalist Terry Hollands
- 2017 America’s Strongest Man Jerry Pritchett
- 9-time Canada’s Strongest Man JF Caron
- 2020 Arnold Strongman USA bronze medalist Maxime Boudreault
The Shaw Classic is only a month after the 2020 WSM competition, which every one of these strongmen (except for Savickas) will be competing in. It will be interesting to see if their preparation takes that into account.
There are still some details to be worked out regarding specific weights for certain events, but there is a lot to look forward to, including the return of the Hummer tire deadlift after a 5 year hiatus. The spread of events look like they will play quite well to the strengths of the strongmen slated to compete.
Feature image from Brian Shaw’s YouTube channel.
