Oleksii Novikov wins the 2020 SBD World’s Strongest Man! After completing 10 events over four days, without any rest, Novikov of Ukraine has emerged victorious. This is the 24-year-old’s first WSM title, and it ties him as the youngest WSM champion ever with Jón Páll Sigmarsson — who won the title at 24 years old in 1984. Tom Stoltman got second and JF Caron placed third.
On May 31, 2020, Novikov made waves when he set the world record for max reps with a giant dumbbell on World’s Ultimate Strongman (WUS) “Feats of Strength” series. That momentum carried into an exceptional performance on the biggest stage in the sport of strongman. Here are Novikov’s results from each event of the 2020 WSM competition. Note: The results of the last event of the Finals, the Atlas Stone Series, are according to the strongman subreddit (WSM has not yet announced them officially).
2020 WSM Qualifying Stage
Novikov was slotted into Group Three alongside Maxime Boudreault, Trey Mitchell, Tom Stoltman, and Gavin Bilton. They competed in the Farmer’s Carry and the Squat for max reps on day one and the Monster Truck Medley and the Dumbbell Clean and Press medley on day two.
- Farmer’s Carry — first place, 57.54 meters
- Squat — second place, 10 reps
- Loading Medley — third place, five objects, 0:44.40
- Dumbbell Clean and Press Medley — first place, eight reps
Novikov’s farmer’s carry was the farthest distance of all 25 strongmen competing.
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2020 WSM Finals
The finals saw a total of six events: the Giant Medley (an anvil carry into yoke walk), the Partial Deadlift, the Keg Toss, the Hercules Hold, the Log Lift Ladder, and the Atlas Stones. Here is how Novikov fared in each event:
- Giant Medley — second place, 23.79 seconds
- Partial Deadlift — first place, 537.5 kilograms (1,185 pounds) — WSM record
- Keg Toss — fifth place — 8 kegs, 0:26.96
- Hercules Hold — fourth place, 0:41.63
- Log Lift Ladder — third place — four Logs, 0:32.68
- Atlas Stones — four stones, 19.47 seconds
Novikov was the only strongman in the field who was able to partial deadlift 537.5 kilograms (1,185 pounds). Going into the Atlas Stones, he held a four-point lead over the nearest competitor and was almost assuredly locked for a spot on the podium. He performed consistently and got fourth place in the Atlas Stone event, which was good enough for a first-place finish overall.
Feature image courtesy of World’s Strongest Man.