After one of the most exciting World’s Strongest Man competitions to date, Martins Licis rose to the top to be crowned the 2019 World’s Strongest Man this past Sunday.
Licis, 28 years old, claimed his first ever title after finishing in fourth place at the 2018 and 2017 competitions. A few days after the competition wrapped up in muggy Bradenton, Florida, the World’s Strongest Man released a video on YouTube telling the story of Licis’ journey to winning the title.
While the video didn’t include many highlights from this year’s competition, like his first place finishes in the Squat Lift and Atlas Stones — you’ll have to wait until the World’s Strongest Man broadcasts on TV on June 30 — it did show how he fared the last two years even after a handful of serious injuries.
The video starts out with Licis’ talking about how he’s been lifting since he was nine years old. His victory feat this past weekend has more or less been nineteen years in the making.
It goes on to recap his fourth place finishes at both the 2017 and 2018 World’s Strongest Man competitions. After 2017, Licis said: “Last year was a tough year, I got hit by a tsunami of injuries.” But even with those adversities, he said that when he got the invite back to the 2018 World’s Strongest Man, he had to say yes. And naturally, the 2019 invite answer was no different.
It’s been a big year for Licis, even before he earned the title. Just a month before this year’s World’s Strongest Man, Licis Steinborn squatted an insane 565lb world record.
[Find out the history of the Steinborn Squat]
Before his record breaking performance last month, Licis also earned a second place finish at the Arnold Strongman Classic. He said in interviews on Sunday that this second place finish is how he knew that he was able to win the World’s Strongest Man.
What an impressive year it has been for Licis, and nothing better than topping it off with the title of the World’s Strongest Man just three years after his rookie debut.
Featured image from the World’s Strongest Man.
