The 45th edition of the World’s Strongest Man competition is scheduled to take place the week of May 24-29, 2022 at Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento, CA. 30 of the world’s greatest strongmen will compete for the honor of calling themselves the number one person in the sport.
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This year’s competition features four WSM winners and 30 athletes in total all vying for the sport’s top prize. Those athletes will contend in three days’ worth of qualifying rounds to determine who heads to the finals for six events over two days.
Sounds exciting, right? Well, the bad news is to see the full event you’ll need to A) travel to Sacramento to watch it live or B) wait until later in the Summer when WSM airs on the CBS Sports Network in the U.S. (specific tune-details are TBD).
How to Watch the 2022 WSM
The good news: If you can’t fly to Sacramento, WSM is producing a live show — Backstage Live! Presented by The Beard Struggle — to be aired on WSM’s Facebook page and YouTube channel.
Fifteen-time WSM competitor Terry Hollands will host the show, where he’ll recap the day’s events and provide behind-the-scene interviews and access to competitors and event organizers.
For those who can make it in person, there will be a first-of-its-kind Fan Festival that is free to the public. The festival will feature food trucks, giveaways, and special events.
About the 2022 WSM
Defending champion Tom Stoltman will look to be the first champion to repeat since Brian Shaw in 2016. Shaw, on the other hand, will try to join Mariusz Pudzianowski as the only five-time champion in the contest’s history. 2020 winner Oleksii Novikov and 2019 champion Martins Licis will both look to become the 10th man to win multiple titles. As of this writing, these are the 30 athletes that will gather in the Golden State.
2022 WSM Roster
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine)
- Rob Kearney (USA)
- Gabriel Peña (Mexico)
- Kelvin de Ruiter (Netherlands)
- Kim Ujarak (Greenland)
- Maxime Boudreault (Canada)
- Mark Felix (UK)
- Pa O’Dwyer (Ireland)
- Shane Flowers (UK)
- Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf (Australia)
- Bobby Thompson (USA)
- Aivars Smaukstelis (Latvia)
- Adam Bishop (UK)
- Evan Singleton (USA)
- Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted (Iceland)
- Konstantine Janashia (Georgia)
- Trey Mitchell (USA)
- Mika Törrö (Finland)
- Luke Stoltman (UK)
- Brian Shaw (USA)
- Tom Stoltman (UK) — Reigning WSM Champion
- Gabriel Rheaume (Canada)
- Martins Licis (USA)
- Gavin Bilton (UK)
- Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
- Kevin Faires (USA)
- Nedžmin Ambešković (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
- Grzegorz Szymanski
- Mitchell Hooper (Canada)
- Manuel Angulo (Chile)
Each day of the competition will have different events to challenge the athletes as they contend for the title. Here is the order of events.
Qualifying Round – Day One
- Loading Race
- Deadlift Ladder
Qualifying Round – Day Two
Qualifying Round – Day Three
- Wrecking Ball Hold
- Stone Off
Final – Day One
- KNAACK Giant’s Medley
- Deadlift
- Flintstone Barbell
Final – Day Two
- Bus Pull
- Reign Total Body Fuel Power Stairs
- Atlas Stones
Featured Image: World’s Strongest Man