World's Ultimate Strongman Explained

World's Ultimate Strongman
Location:,
Number:4
Format:Multi-event competition
Final Year:2021
Final Champion: Oleksii Novikov

World's Ultimate Strongman was an annual strongman competition which was held from 2018 to 2021 with the participation of top strongmen from all over the world, determining who is the strongest man in the world. The event was noted for its brute-strength-centricity and expanded the sport to a wider audience outside of Europe and USA. It also introduced the 'feats of strength' series in 2020, ensuring the continuous expansion of the sport during the Covid-19 pandemic. The competition has a number of rival and parallel competitions, including the World's Strongest Man, the Arnold Strongman Classic and the Giants Live Tour.

History

The inaugural edition of the competition was held in Dubai, United Arab Emirates and out of a very stacked field of 12 athletes, the Icelandic Giant Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson emerged victorious and was crowned the inaugural champion. The 2019 edition was also held in Dubai and was won by Poland's Mateusz Kieliszkowski.

On February 22, 2020, World's Ultimate Strongman announced the competition would be expanding and would hold the championship in Bahrain at the Bahrain International Circuit with a purse of $350,000 which was the largest for any strongman competition.[1] However, on March 13, 2020, they released a statement entailing that it had to be postponed due to concerns over the COVID-19 pandemic, until a new date would be announced when it's logistically feasible.[2] The 2020 competition was finally held in March 2021 in Muharraq under the name '2021 WUS Strength Island' and in September they hosted the 2021 competition back in Dubai. Both competitions were won by Ukraine's Oleksii Novikov.

Championships

2018 World's Ultimate Strongman

See main article: 2018 World's Ultimate Strongman. Events: Truck pull, Arm over arm pull, Silver Dollar Deadlift, Overhead Medley, Super Yoke, Atlas stones

RankNameCountryPoints
1. 60.5
2. 57
3. 52.5
4. 48
5. 42.5
6. 38
7. 34.5
8. 31.5
9. 31
10. 27.5
11. 25
12. 18
[3]

2019 World's Ultimate Strongman

See main article: 2019 World's Ultimate Strongman. Events: Deadlift, Truck pull, Log lift, Medley, Atlas stones

RankNameCountryPoints
1. 55.5
2. 50.5
3. 47.5
4. 44.5
Co 5. 42.5
Co 5. 42.5
7. 39
8. 36
9. 31.5
10. Ramin Farajnejad 30
11. 28
12. 24
13. 21.5
14. 15
[4]

2020 World's Ultimate Strongman (a.k.a. 2021 WUS Strength Island)

Events: Axel Deadlift, Flag Hoist, Circus Dumbbell press, Loading race, Atlas stones

RankNameCountryPoints
1. 70
2. 58
3. 55
4. 47
Co 5. 43
Co 5. Ramin Farajnejad 43
Co 5. Mohammed Ezatpour 43
8. Bobby Thompson 41.5
9. 33.5
10. 33
11. 32
12. Ervin Toots 30.5
13. 26.5
14. 24
15. 17
[5]

2021 World's Ultimate Strongman

Events: Log lift, Super yoke, Farmer's walk, Chain Railway carriage, Atlas stones

RankNameCountryPoints
1. 45.5
2. 44.5
3. 34.5
4. 32
5. 27
6. Bobby Thompson 26.5
7. Mohammed Ezatpour 18
8. Ervin Toots 17
9. 15
10. Ramin Farajnejad 12
[6]

Championship breakdown

YearChampionRunner-Up3rd PlaceLocation
2018[7] Mateusz Kieliszkowski
2019[8] Mateusz Kieliszkowski Luke Stoltman Tom Stoltman
2020[9] Oleksii Novikov JF Caron Aivars Šmaukstelis
2021[10] Oleksii Novikov Mateusz Kieliszkowski Aivars Šmaukstelis

Championships by country

CountryTitles
2
1
1

Feats of Strength series

Due to the postponement of worldwide sporting events and travel restrictions being in place for many countries due to the COVID-19 pandemic, World's Ultimate Strongman announced an at home/private gym Feats of Strength series with differing strongman record attempts to be live streamed for free. Below are the record attempts (Men's World Record unless otherwise stated):

Season 1

DateAttemptAthleteExisting Record and HolderRecord Broken?New Record if Broken
May 2, 2020[11] [12] Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson500abbr=onNaNabbr=on
(Eddie Hall)
501abbr=onNaNabbr=on
May 16, 2020[13] Luke Stoltman228abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Žydrūnas Savickas)
-
May 23, 2020[14] Maximum Atlas Stone Lift Tom Stoltman273abbr=onNaNabbr=on
(Tom Stoltman)
286abbr=onNaNabbr=on
May 30, 2020[15] 100abbr=onNaNabbr=on Dumbbell Press for Repetitions Oleksii Novikov10 repetitions
( Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson)
11 repetitions
June 6, 2020[16] Maximum Atlas Stone Lift
Women's Under-64kg Record
Rhianon Lovelace139abbr=onNaNabbr=on141abbr=onNaNabbr=on
June 13, 2020[17] Maximum Log Lift
American Record
Rob Kearney214abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Rob Kearney)
216abbr=onNaNabbr=on
June 20, 2020[18] 400abbr=onNaNabbr=on Deadlift (standard bar) for Repetitions5 repetitions
( Jean-François Caron)
( Konstantine Janashia)
-
Rauno Heinla-
June 20, 2020[19] Julius Maddox 1349abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Julius Maddox)
-
June 27, 2020Maximum Deadlift (standard bar)
Masters (Over-40s) Record
430abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( James Hickey)
-
Mikhail Shivlyakov-
July 4, 2020Maximum Log Lift
Women's Record
Andrea Thompson129abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Danielle Vaji)
135abbr=onNaNabbr=on
July 11, 2020400abbr=onNaNabbr=on Deadlift (standard bar) for Repetitions Adam Bishop 25 repetitions
( Jean-François Caron)
( Rauno Heinla)
( Konstantine Janashia)
-
Jean-François Caron-

1 It was found during the event that Maddox's bar had been misloaded with one side being 25 kg heavier than the other.
2 It was found during the event that Bishop had 402.5 kg on the barbell, rather than 400 kg, causing an unofficial world record of 402.5 kg for 4 repetitions.

Season 2

DateAttemptAthleteExisting Record and HolderRecord Broken?New Record if Broken
September 13, 2020400abbr=onNaNabbr=on Deadlift (standard bar) for Repetitions Rauno Heinla5 repetitions
( Jean-François Caron)
( Rauno Heinla)
( Konstantine Janashia)
6 repetitions
Konstantine Janashia-
September 20, 2020 Trey Mitchell6 repetitions
( Rauno Heinla)
-
September 27, 2020 Maximum Atlas Stone Lift Tom Stoltman286abbr=onNaNabbr=on
(Tom Stoltman)
-
Maximum Atlas Stone Lift
Women's Record
Donna Moore162abbr=onNaNabbr=on
(Donna Moore)
171abbr=onNaNabbr=on
October 4, 2020Maximum Deadlift (strongwoman) - standard bar
Women's Record
Andrea Thompson275abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Melissa Edwards)
290abbr=onNaNabbr=on
October 11, 2020 Rob Kearney228abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Žydrūnas Savickas)
-
Luke Stoltman-
October 18, 2020 Rauno Heinla501abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson)
-
Ivan Makarov-
Maximum Deadlift (standard bar)
Masters (Over-40s) Record
Mikhail Shivlyakov435abbr=onNaNabbr=on
( James Hickey)
436abbr=onNaNabbr=on

Commonly contested events

Notes and References

  1. News: Owen . Dan . WUS Bahrain announced on weekend with biggest prize pool in strongman history . December 26, 2020 . Sport 360 . February 22, 2020.
  2. Web site: 2020 World's Ultimate Strongman Bahrain postponed due to Covid-19 . https://ghostarchive.org/iarchive/s/instagram/B9qixkdA8Gw . December 26, 2021 . registration. March 13, 2020 . . en-GB . December 26, 2020.
  3. Web site: 2018 WUS Dubai. 12 April 2022. strongmanarchives.com. 26 October 2018.
  4. Web site: 2019 WUS Dubai. 12 April 2022. strongmanarchives.com. 25 October 2019.
  5. Web site: 2021 WUS Strength Island. 12 April 2022. strongmanarchives.com. 13 March 2021.
  6. Web site: 2021 WUS Dubai. 12 April 2022. strongmanarchives.com. 17 September 2021.
  7. Web site: Sunderland . Tom . Hafthor Bjornsson Wins World's Ultimate Strongman, Beasts in the Middle East . Bleacher Report . February 2, 2020 . October 27, 2018.
  8. Web site: Balf . Celia. Mateusz Kieliszkowski Wins World's Ultimate Strongman With A Torn Biceps . BarBend . February 2, 2020 . October 25, 2019.
  9. Web site: Oleksii Novikov Wins World's Ultimate Strongman "Strength Island" Contest . BarBend . Roger . Lockridge . March 13, 2021 . March 14, 2021.
  10. Web site: Novikov, Chapman Victorious — 2021 World’s Ultimate Strongman Results . BarBend . Roger . Lockridge . September 17, 2021 . September 18, 2021.
  11. Web site: Heaviest Deadlift . Guinness World Records . guinnessworldrecords.com . 10 May 2020 . 25 March 2022.
  12. Web site: Hafthor Bjornsson breaks world record with 1,104-pound deadlift . . May 2, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  13. Web site: Luke Stoltman FAILS To Break Log Lift World Record . Fitness Volt . Goran . Odrljin . May 16, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  14. Web site: Strongman Tom Stoltman Lifts World Record 286kg/630lb Atlas Stone Over Bar . BarBend . David . Tao . September 22, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  15. Web site: Strongman Oleksii Novikov Sets World Record In Giant Dumbbell For Reps . BarBend . Phil . Blechman . June 1, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  16. Web site: Rhianon Lovelace (-64kg) Hoists a Massive 141kg/311lb Atlas Stone for New World Record . BarBend . Phil . Blechman . June 8, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  17. Web site: Rob Kearney Sets 475 Pound American Log Lift Record . BarBend . Roger . Lockridge . June 16, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  18. Web site: Rauno Heinla Victorious In 400kg/880lb Deadlift For Reps World’s Ultimate Strongman Event . Fitness Volt . Matthew . Magnante . July 11, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  19. Web site: Julius Maddox Misses 800 Pound Raw Bench Press Record . BarBend . Roger . Lockridge . June 22, 2020 . December 26, 2020.
  20. News: Deadlift. February 2, 2020.
  21. News: Yolk. February 2, 2020.
  22. Web site: Vehicle Pull. February 2, 2020.
  23. News: Atlas Stones. February 2, 2020.