The 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man winner and 9x World’s Strongest Man competitor Laurence Shahlaei recently posted a YouTube video with his predictions for the 2018 Britain’s Strongest Man competition. Unfortunately, Shahlaei won’t be competing this year and had to withdraw due to a back injury he sustained a few months ago, but he’s analyzed the competition and made his best predictions.
This year’s Britain’s Strongest Man contest is being held on January 27th in Sheffield, a borough in South Yorkshire, England. The lineup is stacked and can be seen below.
- Eddie Hall (4x Britain’s Strongest Man)
- Terry Hollands (1x Britain’s Strongest Man)
- Graham Hicks
- Mark Felix
- Aaron Page
- Adam Bishop
- Luke Stoltman
- Tom Stoltman
- Mark Steele
- Ben Running
- Ken Nowicki
- Paul Smith
The events being held at this year’s Britain’s Strongest Man in order will be: Log medley, truck deadlift, super yoke, loading race, hammer hold, Atlas stones.
Shahlaei’s Predictions and Thoughts
First Place
This may not surprise you, but Shahlaei went with the 2017 World’s Strongest Man Eddie Hall to take home the win, but not easily. In the video Shahlaei says, “Eddie, his main goal was to win the World’s Strongest Man, the guy pushed himself to unbelievable limits to do that. He’s suffering with a few little injuries, I know he’s got a few niggles and injuries that he’s probably not being as honest about with a lot of people. Obviously, I got a little bit more in-depth knowledge on it.”
He continues on to talk about how lately Hall’s been focused heavily on other ventures outside of strongman, so he may not be putting the same amount into his training as he did in previous years. In addition, he talks about how an athlete’s motivation can dip a little bit after coming off a World’s Strongest Man win.
Second Place
Graham Hicks is Shahlaei’s second place prediction. He points out that Hicks’ keeps quiet about his training, but that he looks strong going into this competition. The log and medleys are where Shahlaei thinks Hicks will excel and give Hall a run for his money.
Third and Fourth Place
For third and fourth place, Shahlaei mentions that there are a ton of great competitors, and one athlete sure to be in the mix is Terry Hollands. The only issues Shahlaei thinks Hollands may run into involve the front hold and log, but if he can perform well in them, then he has a good shot to finish top three.
The next competitor in the top four mix for Shahlaei is Mark Felix. Coming up on 52-years of age, Felix consistently has solid Britain’s Strongest Man performances. Shahlaei thinks he may struggle a bit with the log, but all-in-all, he’ll record a solid performance.
Adam Bishop is also in Shahlaei’s mix for possibly finishing in the top three. He points out how Bishop had an unlucky year in 2017, but his training is looking strong and is coming along following his torn bicep.
The New(er) Guys
To finish up the video, Shahlaei talks about the athletes who are slightly newer, or brand new to this year’s Britain’s Strongest Man. He points that all of the athletes have strong training backgrounds and could cause an upset here and there at various points.
Feature image from @eddiehallwsm Instagram page.
