2020 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) champion Oleksii Novikov is officially out of the 2024 edition of the competition, scheduled for May 1-5, 2024, in Myrtle Beach, SC, WSM promoters have announced. The announcement was made on Instagram on April 17, 2024 in the post can be seen below:
The Ukrainian strongman withdrew due to a biceps injury he suffered during his bronze-medal performance at the 2024 Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) competition on April 13, 2024, in Leeds, England. There was no official word on the severity or details of Novikov’s injury at the time of this article’s publication.
Novikov joins 2019 WSM champion Martins Licis and two-time WSM runner-up Mateusz Kieliszkowski on the list of athletes who have bowed out of the 2024 WSM contest. Kieliszkowski was still recovering from an Achilles tendon injury suffered while training for the 2024 ESM. Licis’ withdrawal came after finishing eighth at the 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, OH.
This leaves three vacancies on the 2024 WSM roster a fortnight before the competition kicks off in South Carolina. Those announcements are expected to be made with enough time for those competitors to prepare and travel.
With Novikov now out, defending champion Mitchell Hooper and two-time champion Tom Stoltman (2021-22) are the only past WSM winners on the 2024 WSM roster. The athletes currently scheduled to compete are listed below in alphabetical order:
2024 World’s Strongest Man Roster
- Austin Andrade
- Gavin Bilton
- Adam Bishop
- Marcus Crowder
- Wes Derwinsky
- Thomas Evans
- Shane Flowers
- Kane Francis
- Nathan Goltry
- Rauno Heinla
- Mitchell Hooper — Reigning Champion
- Kristjan Jon Haraldsson
- Rob Kearney
- Pavlo Kordiyaka
- Trey Mitchell
- Evans Nana
- Mathew Ragg
- Jaco Schoonwinkel
- Evan Singleton
- Aivars Smaukstelis
- Luke Stoltman
- Tom Stoltman
- Bobby Thompson
- Eddie Williams
- Oskar Ziolkowski
Stay tuned to BarBend for continued updates about the 2024 World’s Strongest Man and coverage of the competition when it kicks off in Myrtle Beach on May 1, 2024.
Featured image: novikov_strong_wsm on Instagram
