Organizers of the Arnold Sports Festival has announced that there will be one more contest for those that have yet to qualify for the 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic. The Arnold Strongman USA event will take place at the Santa Monica Pier in Los Angeles, California on January 18, 2020. This will be the second running of this event.
The first event took place this past January at the same location. That contest was won by Martins Licis who would go on to place second that the 2019 ASC to winner Hafthor Bjornsson. Licis would eventually go on to win the 2019 World’s Strongest Man contest. Although he did win that title, he has yet to earn a qualification to the Arnold event which has its own qualification system. Competitors either have to win the previous year’s ASC, win one of the qualifying contests which take place at different international locations, or secure enough points in the Arnold Pro Strongman World Series system to earn the trip to Columbus. Licis was scheduled to compete in Barcelona but withdrew due to injury.
Licis isn’t the only WSM winner to not yet qualify for the ASC. Former multi-time World’s Strongest Man and Arnold Strongman Classic champion Brian Shaw has also failed to secure a spot. Past champions are not automatically invited to compete. Shaw did compete in Barcelona but finished in 7th place.
Licis is likely to compete in this event if he is recovered from his injury. He had stated he hoped this event would happen. Shaw hasn’t shared his thoughts as of this writing. If both competitors choose to compete in Santa Monica, only one will be able to earn the qualification to the big contest in March. That alone will likely be enough to draw a lot of attention to the event in Santa Monica.
Stay tuned to BarBend for more news and updates as they develop.
