Mateusz Kieliszkowski has been on quite a roll this strongman season, and that trend continued in Barcelona, Spain. Coming off clinching the World’s Strongest Man Arena Tour title at Giants Live Manchester, he won the 2019 Arnold Strongman Europe contest. He not only won the contest but led from wire to wire, including taking first place in three of the five events, against a very competitive lineup of athletes.
The 2019 World’s Strongest Man Martins Licis withdrew before the competition began due to injury but served as a referee for the contest. Olexii Novikov, who has won Arnold events in both South America and Africa, finished this event as the runner-up. Arnold Strongman Canada champion JF Caron took the bronze position.
The top three finishers of this contest had already clinched qualifications for the Arnold Strongman Classic in 2020 so the qualification spot at this event went to the 4th place finisher Mikhail Shivlyakov.
Former Arnold Strongman Classic Champion and World’s Strongest Man Brian Shaw also competed in this event but finished in 7th place. This was his first competition since the World’s Strongest Man in June. Since then he has reportedly lost over 20 pounds in an effort to improve conditioning and athleticism.
The results of this contest put both Licis and Shaw in a unique situation. Neither man is currently qualified for the 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic. Shaw is a past champion but invites are only offered to the current champion, which is Hafthor Bjornsson. Even though Licis won the World’s Strongest Man, the Arnold Pro Strongman World Series has their own qualification system, and Licis had yet to win an event or earn enough points to qualify.
As of this writing there are no further contests scheduled between now and the ASC in March. There have been discussions but no confirmation that there will be another event in Santa Monica like there was this past January. If it is to happen, an announcement can potentially be made in the coming weeks. That contest in Santa Monica was won by Licis, which helped him qualify for the show in Columbus. He finished that contest in second place behind Bjornsson.
2019 Arnold Strongman Europe Top 10 Results
1st – Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2nd – Olexii Novikov
3rd – JF Caron
4th – Mikhail Shivlyakov
5th – Jerry Pritchett
6th – Jimmy Paquet
7th – Brian Shaw
8th – Alvers Smauktelis
9th – Matjaz Belsak
10th – Rauno Heinla
Featured Image: Instagram/arnoldclassiceurope
