World’s Strongest Man 2022 – Full Lineup + Preview!

Well, it’s nearly that time of year again when the greatest Strongmen on the planet get together to decide which one of them is truly worthy of the title ‘World’s Strongest Man’. 

Indeed, there can be only one winner and this year the contest is set to be tighter than ever. As 30 men are whittled down throughout the 5 heats, only the cream of the crop will make the final 10.

• What: World’s Strongest Man 2022
• Where: Sacramento, California
• When: 24th – 29th May 2022.

As far back as 2018, Strongman Royalty were tipping Tom to become the next British World’s Strongest Man champion. In 2021 Tom achieved his dream as he beat out 4-time champ Brian Shaw by 3 points to claim his first World’s Strongest Man title at just 27 years old. 

The reigning champion won’t have it easy though, with several men hotly tipped to take his crown in 2022.

THE LINE-UP

• Mitchell Hooper (Canada)
• Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine)
• Rob Kearney (USA)
• Gabriel Peña (Mexico)
• Kelvin de Ruiter (Netherlands)
• Kim Ujarak (Greenland)
• Maxime Boudreault (Canada)
• Mark Felix (UK)
• Pa O’Dwyer (Ireland)
• Shane Flowers (UK)
• Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf (Australia)
• Bobby Thompson (USA)
• Aivars Smaukstelis (Latvia)
• Adam Bishop (UK)
• Evan Singleton (USA)
• Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted (Iceland)
• Konstantine Janashia (Georgia)
• Trey Mitchell (USA)
• Mika Törrö (Finland)
• Manuel Angulo (Chile)
• Luke Stoltman (UK)
• Brian Shaw (USA)
• Tom Stoltman (UK) — Reigning WSM Champion
• Gabriel Rheaume (Canada)
• Martins Licis (USA)
• Gavin Bilton (UK)
• Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
• Kevin Faires (USA)
• Nedžmin Ambešković (Bosnia and Herzegovina)
• Grzegorz Szymański (Poland)

The Favorites

• Brian Shaw
  
  After coming so close in 2021, the 4-time champion has his sights firmly set on matching Marius Puzinowski’s record of 5 World’s Strongest Man titles. If he does claim victory in 2022 he’ll set the record for the longest span of victories at World’s Strongest Man, 11 years on from his first in 2011.
• Tom Stoltman
  
  Making his 5th appearance at World’s Strongest Man, Tom is the man to beat. The reigning champ kicked off his year in style by winning Britain’s Strongest Man in Sheffield but with his eyes firmly focused on WSM, Tom decided to focus on training instead of competing.
  2022 could be Tom’s last year at World’s Strongest Man, revealing he plans to take some time away from competition after this year’s event. While some fans have questioned his commitment, there’s no doubt that Tom is 100% focused, and ready to crush the opposition in California.
• Luke Stoltman
  
  Ever since Luke claimed victory at Europe’s Strongest Man in 2021, he’s made it clear that his next goal was to become World’s Strongest Man in 2022 and looking at his current form, you’d be a fool to bet against the highland oak.
  He was Oleksi Novikov’s closest challenger at ESM 2022 and very nearly pulled a World Record log press whilst doing so! Can Luke make history and become the first ever Brothers to become World’s Strongest Man?
• Evan Singleton
  
  The T-Rex made his debut at World’s Strongest Man back in 2020 but his debut was short lived after tearing his bicep during the heats. Last year, he made his was to World’s as one of the top 10 favorites, but food poisoning on the eve of the competition made it a 2nd miserable WSM in a row for the American.
  Evan roars back to World’s Strongest Man in 2022 with a couple of Giants Live trophies under his belt and is ready to claim victory on home soil.
• Martins Licis
  
  The 2019 champ returns to World’s Strongest Man in 2022 as one of the hot favorites for victory. Martins has spent much of the past couple of years suffering with various injuries that have required careful rehabilitation to allow him to compete at full force once again.
  He made his intentions clear in late 2021 at the Rouge Invitational, beating reigning World’s Strongest Man Tom Stoltman by 3 points, even beating him on the Stones! If Martins can keep injury free, he’ll be tough to beat.
• Oleksii Novikov
  
  Few men have what it takes to become Europe’s Strongest Man, it takes the perfect combination of skill, preparation and good luck to claim the biggest one-day title on the planet. And yet, Oleksii managed to take victory whilst defending his homeland fighting full-time in the Ukrainian military.
  There’s something special about what Oleksii is able to do when it’s game time- he’s able to go further, harder and faster than should be possible. He’s looking to win his 2nd WSM title in 2022, and there’s unlikely to be a more popular winner if he does.

Notable mentions

While the 6 men above are considered among the favorites, there’s another 24 men who stand equal chance of becoming World’s Strongest Man in 2022.

Among these men is Adam Bishop, Britain’s Strongest Man of 2020. Bish has been looking better than ever in 2022 and much like Tom Stoltman, he’s taken some time away from competing to build up to WSM this year, and with his training going better than ever, he could be a dark horse.

Last year’s dark horse Maxime Boudreault returns in 2022 for another crack at the WSM title. He flew under everyone’s radar in 2021, finishing 2nd to Brian Shaw in his group and taking a very well deserved podium in his first ever WSM final,

Another North American hopeful is Kevin Faires. If there was a pound-for-pound element to World’s Strongest Man, Kevin would be leader of the pack. Despite his (relatively) light build, he’s got a monster grip and can deadlift with the best.

Trey Mitchell is making his 4th appearance at World’s Strongest Man this year after narrowly missing out on the podium spots last time. The giant American could be a real threat in Sacramento.

Trey, who won the Official Strongman Games in 2017 has another OSG graduate joining in 2022- Pavlo Kordiyaka. Cut from a similar cloth to his compatriot Oleksii, the 6ft 5in Ukrainian showed what he could do at ESM 2022, finishing in an impressive 4th spot at his first ever Giants Live contest despite spending the 5 weeks prior fighting for his country in Ukraine.

How to watch World’s Strongest Man 2022

For the first time, World’s Strongest Man is inviting fans to watch the action LIVE in California! 5 days of live Strongman action awaits the fans lucky enough to travel to the event, however if you can’t make it there, there’s still plenty of action.

Strongman legend Terry Hollands will be hosting World’s Strongest Man’s live behind-the-scenes show after each day, with the show being streamed for free on The World’s Strongest Man Youtube and Facebook channels.

If that just isn’t enough and you want to watch Strongman LIVE, well Giants Live still have 4 shows remaining on our EPIC 2022 Arena Tour! On July 9th, WSM Stars Evan Singleton, Oleksii Novikov and many more will be taking on 5 gigantic events at this year’s running of The Strongman Classic at the Royal Albert Hall.

If deadlifting is more your scene, The World Deadlift Champs are taking place as part of the Giants Live Open on August 6th in Cardiff, Wales. With an incredible $55,000 dollars prize money on the line for any men who can lift 505kg, will we see a new world record in Cardiff?

Tickets are available to all the Giants Live shows here.