The 45th edition of the World’s Strongest Man competition took place the week of May 24-29, 2022, at Capitol Mall in downtown Sacramento, CA. Thirty of the world’s top strongmen competed for the grandest title in the sport.
This year’s competition featured four WSM winners and 30 athletes in total. Those athletes contended in three days of qualifying rounds to determine who headed to the final for six events over two days.
How to Watch the 2022 World’s Strongest Man
If you’re in the UK, you can watch the broadcast on the following dates and times on Channel 5 (each episode is one hour):
- WSM Heat 1 — Dec. 27, 2022, 7:00 pm GMT
- WSM Heat 2 — Dec. 28, 2022, 7:00 pm GMT
- WSM Heat 3 — Dec. 29, 2022, 7:00 pm GMT
- WSM Heat 4 — Dec. 30, 2022, 7:00 pm GMT
- WSM Heat 5 — Dec. 31, 2022, 7:00 pm GMT
- WSM Final 2022 — Jan. 1, 2023, 7:30 pm GMT
WSM produced a live show — Backstage Live! Presented by The Beard Struggle — which aired on WSM’s Facebook page and YouTube channel. Fifteen-time WSM competitor Terry Hollands hosted 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 made it in person, a first-of-its-kind Fan Festival was free to the public. The festival featured food trucks, giveaways, and special events.
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About the 2022 WSM
Defending champion Tom Stoltman sought to be the first champion to repeat since Brian Shaw in 2016. On the other hand, Shaw tried to join Mariusz Pudzianowski as the only five-time champion in the contest’s history. 2020 winner Oleksii Novikov and 2019 champion Martins Licis both looked to become the 10th man to win multiple titles. Thirty athletes gathered 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 had different events to challenge the athletes as they contended 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