The Moose completed his seventh straight contest victory on Saturday evening to complete a hattrick of Arnold Classic titles and maintain his stranglehold over the sport of Strongman. Having achieved an unprecedented clean sweep of Giants Live victories last season, Hooper managed to secure a 2.5 point win over American debutant, Lucas Hatton, and third placed Hafthór Björnsson of Iceland, who failed in his attempt to deadlift a world record of 501kg in the contest’s opening event!
As part of the annual Arnold Sports Festival in Columus, Ohio, the Arnold Strongman and Strongwoman Classic is one of the sport’s premier contests and is often regarded as the heaviest show on the professional circuit. Hooper, who has not been defeated since Tom Stoltman took his World’s Strongest Man title in Myrtle Beach last May, was pushed hard by two-time America’s Strongest Man, Lucas Hatton and had to ensure victory with a single lift in the final event – Stone to Shoulder.
The fortunes of the British athletes who had travelled over to compete were mixed. The Albatross, Tom Stoltman, Britain’s only representative in the men’s contest, could finish no higher than 7th and will now begin his preparation for World’s Strongest Man 2025, in May. He was 3rd at this show last year, losing to Hooper, but still managed a win at World’s. This year it will surely take everything the three-time champion possesses, and more, to keep the WSM trophy out of Hooper’s hands.
The British ladies faired little better as Puerto Rican Inez Carrasquillo claimed her first Arnold win from 2022 World’s Strongest Woman, Olga Liashchuk. With defending champion Angelica Jardine in 3rd, it was Andrea Thompson who placed 4th, ahead of the current World’s Strongest Woman, Rebecca Roberts in 5th and deadlift world record holder, Lucy Underdown, in 6th.
Event Results
Held over two days, the six-events contested by the men were mirrored in the women’s competition. With three disciplines each day, the format is quite dissimilar to the Giants Live single evening show and more akin to WSM, with more time to recover between events.
Elephant Bar Deadlift for Max
Björnsson’s much-anticipated world record attempt at 501kg proved unsuccessful, but the 200kg Icelander was able to once again prove his dominance in this event with a comfortable 465kg (1,025lb) lift, eclipsing Hooper’s 450kg (992lb) and Bobby Thompson’s 447kg (985lb).
There were fireworks in the women’s event, with Andera Thomspon comfortably breaking the world record with a 304kg ((670lb) lift. Conventional bar and overall world record holder, Lucy Underdown, was forced to dig deep with her final lift and grind out a 307kg (678lb) effort to take the win and re-establish for record.
Overhead Gauntlet
This medley of overhead lifts was dominated by America’s Lukas Hatton, on the men’s side. Making short work of the 113kg (249lb) Dumbbell and 125kg (276lb) stone press, he completed 3 reps with the Austrian Oak (195kg/430lb), the heavier of the choice of logs, in a time of 1:45.02, some 6 seconds quicker than Trey Mitchell. Hooper was third, managing just a single rep of the Oak, with Mexico’s Austin Andrade the only other man to match that feat.
On the women’s side, Andrea Thompson, the 2018 World’s Strongest Woman, continued her excellent start to the contest with a share of the win, tying Liashchuk and Jardine on 22 points, with successful lifts of the 70kg (154lb) Dumbbell, 79kg (174lb) stone and 2 reps of the 122kg (269lb) heavier log. Jardine was the quicker and took top honours. Underdown failed to clear the Dumbbell, effectively ending her title threat after such a promising start.
Timber Carry
Closing out Friday’s events was the 400kg (882lb) frame walk up an 11m inclined ramp. The women’s implement weighed 265kg (584lb) and had to be carried up the same slope. Pre-event favourite, Mitchell Hooper, made no mistake in an event he seems unbeatable in. His 10.77s time was nearly 2 seconds faster than Hatton, who in claiming 2nd place was just 4 points adrift of the Canadian at the end of day 1. Evan Singleton was 3rd with 17.91s, whilst well-placed Trey Mitchell could only complete 0.03m and would tumble down the leaderboard.
Wales’s Rebecca Roberts showed the crowd why she’s the World’s Strongest Woman with a blistering winning time of 7.56s! Carrasquillo’s 8.34s was quick enough to claim second, just ahead of Liashchuk’s 9.47s. Underdown was just 0.01s slower in 4th, with Thompson taking 5th to put her in the lead at the end of day 1.
The Big Jerk for Max
Day 2 began with another maximum weight contest with athletes pressing or jerking from behind the neck. This event had been contested at the 2022 World’s Strongest Man final, where Ukraine’s Oleksii Novikov claimed victory with 246kg (542lb).
On the men’s side, Lukas Hatton’s superb form looked to be holding as he locked out a 247.5kg (546lb) lift to take maximum points and eclipse Novikov’s 2022 lift. Hooper and Trey Mitchell shared 2nd with 242.5kg (535lb), meaning that the defending champion’s lead was now down to just 2.5 points with two events remaining.
Inez Carrasquillo asserted her dominance over the field with a stunning 160kg (353lb) lift, which proved too much for any of the other competitors. Liashchuk’s 142.5kg (314lb) effort was good enough for second, with Jardine, Thompson, Melissa Peacock and Sam Belliveau of Canada all tying for 3rd with 135kg (297lb). Carrasqullo’s win would see her leading for the first time.
The Timber Test
The penultimate event was a Carry and Drag style event with the competitors loading logs into sleds which then needed to be dragged across the finish line. Hafthór Björnsson totally dominated this discipline, using his massive height and weight to great advantage and completing the course in 31.21s. Hatton’s 37.57s was good enough for 4th overall, but was beaten by Hooper, and crucially Stoltman, giving The Moose a 4.5 point buffer going into the final event.
Rebecca Roberts once again demonstrated her incredible ability in moving events as she ripped through the course in a time of 29.96s. Thompson’s 51.17s would see her challenge for the victory end, as Carrasquillo maintained her consistent display with a 32.22s clocking, which was good enough for 2nd. Liashchuk could only manage 8th whilst Lucy Underdown’s 34.65s would see her place 3rd.
Stone to Shoulder
The final event involved Atlas Stones, rather than natural stones, being loaded to the athlete’s shoulders for maximum repetitions in the 120 second time limit. Just as in the Overhead Gauntlet, the competitors would have a choice of implements, with the heavier stone yielding 10-points and the lighter just a single point. In the men’s contest the weights of the stones were 184kg (406lb) and 159kg (351lb), whilst the women’s implements were 136kg (300lb) and 113kg (249lb).
Austin Andrade’s 4 reps with the heavier stone was unmatched by anyone and would see the Mexican place 4th overall. Björnsson’s single rep with the heavier implement secured his podium finish in 3rd. Hatton knew he’s need something very special to deny Hooper a third straight Arnold Classic victory and cemented an outstanding debut performance with 3 reps of the heavier stone to take second in the event. Hooper walked onto stage knowing a single rep of the big stone would see him claim the Louis Cyr trophy. He had no problem shouldering the 400lb orb and even performed an unnecessary second rep just to please the crowd.
Jardine and Liashchuk completed 2 reps a-piece with the 300lb stone and shared the event win. Carrasquillo was the only other athlete to successfully lift the heavier stone, and her single rep was enough to secure her the overall victory with what was an incredible display of power and consistency across the events.
Like Roberts and Underdown, Thompson was unable to lift any of the stones, and had to be content with 4th overall – an amazing performance from a woman who was the 2023 Master’s World’s Strongest Woman!
