Canada’s got some serious bragging rights, and it’s not because they invented poutine. Rising strongman star Mitchell Hooper won the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic UK, which took place from Sept. 23-24 in Birmingham, England. He edged out some of the best strongmen on the planet and continues a dominant string of podium finishes since he exploded onto the scene in full force at the 2022 World’s Strongest Man contest.
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Oleksii Novikov of Ukraine, who won the 2020 World’s Strongest Man, took second. Rauno Heinla rounded out the podium by taking third place.
2022 ASC UK Results & Event Recap
Below, you’ll find the overall final scores and recaps of all six events. This was a two-day contest. All of the results were pulled from Strongman Archives.
- Mitchell Hooper — 79.5 points
- Oleksii Novikov — 71 points
- Rauno Heinla — 61.5 points
- Pa O’Dwyer — 55 points
- Gavin Bilton — 47 points
- Paul Smith — 44.5 points
- Konstantine Janashia — 43 points
- Kim Ujarak Lorentzen — 37 points
- Ryan Bennett — 36.5 points
- Louis Jack — 33.5 points
- Žydrūnas Savickas — 33.5 points
- Ervin Toots — 31.5 points
- Ben Williams — 27 points
- Zake Muluzi — 23.5 points
Deadlift
The competition kicked off with the classic deadlift. The bars were loaded with 370 kilograms (815.8 pounds), and two athletes at a time went head-to-head, deadlifting as many reps as possible in 75 seconds.
Rauno Heinla bolstered his reputation as a deadlift specialist by pulling eight reps and winning the event. Hooper finished in the silver spot with six reps, and Novikov managed five reps. The contestants that tied on reps evenly split the points for their respective placings.
- Rauno Heinla – 8 reps
- Mitchell Hooper — 6 reps
- Oleksii Novikov — 5 reps
- Gavin Bilton — 4 reps
- Pa O’Dwyer — 4 reps (tie for 4th)
- Kim Ujarak Lorentzen — 4 reps (tie for 4th)
- Konstantine Janashia — 3 reps
- Paul Smith — 3 reps (tie for 7th)
- Ben Williams — 3 reps (tie for 7th)
- Ryan Bennett — 2 reps
- Ervin Toots — 1 rep
- Louis Jack — 1 rep (tie for 11th)
- Zake Muluzi — 1 rep (tie for 11th)
- Zydrunas Savickas — 1 rep (tie for 11th)
Bag Over Bar
For this event, competitors aim to toss five increasingly heavy bags over a bar (this one was four meters high) for time. The five bags used in this toss weighed from 20 to 28 kilograms (44 to 61.7 pounds).
Gavin Bilton finished all five in 17.21 seconds, giving him the event win. Hooper and Novikov finished second and third, respectively, within two-tenths of a second of each other. All athletes could toss all five bags before the 60 second time limit.
- Gavin Bilton — 5 in 17.21 seconds
- Mitchell Hooper — 5 in 18.15 seconds
- Oleksii Novikov — 5 in 18.35 seconds
- Rauno Heinla — 5 in 18.38 seconds
- Pa O’Dwyer — 5 in 18.79 seconds
- Konstantine Janashia — 5 in 19.27 seconds
- Kim Ujarak Lorentzen — 5 in 19.76 seconds
- Ervin Toots — 5 in 21.47 seconds
- Louis Jack — 5 in 24.78 seconds
- Ryan Bennett — 5 in 26.53 seconds
- Zake Muluzi — 5 in 27.16 seconds
- Paul Smith — 5 in 33.81 seconds
- Žydrūnas Savickas — 5 in 37.9 seconds
- Ben Williams — 5 in 47.84 seconds
Arnold Stone Carry
No, that’s not a typo, just some nifty marketing. Technically, this event closely resembled the famed Dinnie Stones Carry. The stones weighed 136 and 164 kilograms (300 and 361 pounds), and the men had to carry them 15 meters in the fastest time possible.
Hooper was the only man who could complete the event, managing to carry the stones all 15 meters in 34 seconds. The other men were scored by distance. Four-time World’s Strongest Man Žydrūnas Savickas And Zame Muluzi rounded out the top three. They were the only other men to make it 10 meters with the massive stones in their grip.
- Mitchell Hooper — 34.02 seconds
- Zydrunas Savickas — 14.14 meters
- Zake Muluzi — 10.77 meters
- Rauno Heinla — 6.19 meters
- Oleksii Novikov — 5.32 meters
- Pa O’Dwyer — 5.1 meters
- Ervin Toots — 4.98 meters
- Ryan Bennett — 4.88 meters
- Gavin Bilton — 4.81 meters
- Paul Smith — 4.45 meters
- Konstantine Janashia — 4.27 meters
- Louis Jack — 3.68 meters
- Kim Ujarak Lorentzen — 3.2 meters
- Ben Williams — 1.9 meters
Super Yoke
The massive yoke weighed 500 kilograms (1,102 pounds) and had to be carried down the 10-meter-long course in the quickest time possible. This is a total body challenge because the upper body and core have to stabilize the yoke while the lower body is responsible for the movement and speed.
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Hooper could’ve gotten a speeding ticket with how quickly he finished the course — in a staggering 5.70 seconds. Novikov finished second with 8.42 seconds, and Paul Smith took the number three position by going across the line in a little over 11 seconds.
- Mitchell Hooper — 5.70 seconds
- Oleksii Novikov — 8.42 seconds
- Paul Smith — 11.09 seconds
- Konstantine Janashia — 12.5 seconds
- Žydrūnas Savickas — 14.01 seconds
- Rauno Heinla — 14.82 seconds
- Ryan Bennett — 18.84 seconds
- Pa O’Dwyer — 21.84 seconds
- Ben Williams — 22.29 seconds
- Gavin Bilton — 25.26 seconds
- Zake Muluzi — 32.07 seconds
- Louis Jack — 34.58 seconds
- Ervin Toots — 46.91 seconds
- Kim Ujurak Lorentzen — 3.85 meters
Dumbbell Press
Competitors had 75 seconds to hoist the 100-kilogram dumbbell from the floor to the shoulder and over their heads to a lockout. The judge calls the lift and the down command for the lift to be good.
Most folks probably had Novikov as the favorite for this event — he does hold the Giant Dumbbell World Record — and they’d be right. He managed eight reps. Hooper followed closely with seven reps, helping him maintain his overall lead heading into the final event. Paul Smith tied for second. All ties split the corresponding points evenly.
- Oleksii Novikov — 8 reps
- Mitchell Hooper — 7 reps
- Paul Smith — 7 reps
- Pa O’Dwyer — 6 reps
- Ben Williams — 5 reps
- Gavin Bilton — 4 reps
- Rauno Heinla — 3 reps
- Ryan Bennett — 3 reps
- Kim Ujurak Lorentzen — 2 reps
- Ervin Toots — 2 reps
- Louis Jack — 2 reps
- Konstantine Janashia — 0
- Zydrunas Savickas — 0
- Zake Muluzi — 0
Atlas Stones
The five Atlas Stones for the final event ranged from 120 to 200 kilograms (264 to 440 pounds). Whoever lifts all five stones to their pedestals the quickest wins. Hooper didn’t have to win the event to take the title, but doing so would seal the deal. Louis Jack took first place, and Hooper took second, thus taking the title back to Canada. The standings for the final event are below.
- Louis Jack — 23.91 seconds
- Mitchell Hooper — 25.74 seconds
- Konstantine Janashia — 29.71 seconds
- Kim Ujurak Lorentzen — 31.38 seconds
- Oleskii Novikov — 31.98 seconds
- Rauno Heinla — 4 in 19.21 seconds
- Pa O’Dwyer — 4 in 19.85 seconds
- Ervin Toots — 4 in 21.02 seconds
- Žydrūnas Savickas — 21.34 seconds
- Paul Smith — 4 in 22.4 seconds
- Ryan Bennett — 4 in 32.09 seconds
- Gavin Bilton — 4 in 34.09 seconds
- Ben Williams — 3 in 14.15 seconds
- Zake Muluzi – 3 in 16.59 seconds
Featured Image: @mitchellhooper on Instagram
