World's Strongest Man

History

1970s–1980s

1990s–2000s

2010s–2020s

Competition format and commonly contested events

• Loading Race – Several heavy objects, each weighing, are loaded onto a truck bed or a similar platform over a course of about.
• Atlas Stones – Five heavy round stones increasing in weight in the range of are lifted and set on platforms. When the stones were first introduced to the competition, it was an individual event and the platforms were all of equal height. The modern Atlas Stones event takes place on a long course and the competitors participate two at a time. There are three current variations to the Atlas Stones event. In one, the stones are placed directly in front of the platforms and the competitors must simply lift and place them, generally the lightest stone being placed on the highest platform. In another, the stones are placed in a diagonal line, with the first stone being in front of the first platform, and each subsequent stone is set farther back from the course, with the heaviest stone being farthest away. The third variation sees the five platforms in a straight vertical line with the stones in front of each, and the competitors must place the stones and then move a short distance to the next one. In recent competitions, this is typically the final event. In the 2015 competition the heaviest stone was 209 kilos.
• Vehicle Pull – Vehicles such as transport trucks, trams, boxcars, buses, or planes are pulled across a course as fast as possible. One variation sees the competitors pull the object with a rope toward them. Another has them attached to a rope which is attached to a vehicle, while they use another rope to pull themselves down the course. A third involves no ropes, with the competitors pulling the vehicle while connected to a harness. The 2007 competition featured pulling a fire truck, and the 2008 qualifying rounds featured a coal truck.
• Overhead Press – The heaviest possible load is pressed overhead, or a lighter weight is used for repetitions.
• Fingal Fingers – A series of hinged poles are lifted starting from a horizontal resting position and flipped over to the other side. The poles get progressively heavier and longer. The event is scored by time and by how many of the poles a competitor was able to flip over. The event takes its name from Fingal, a mythological Gaelic hunter-warrior.
• Power Stairs – A series of three Duck Walk implements ranging from are lifted, step by step, to the top of a flight of stairs.
• Squat – Squatting large weights, such as of bricks, a car, or people on a platform. Recently, an apparatus has been used that drops weighted kegs into a cage, one at a time after each successful lift. The athlete will continue until completion, failure or time expires.
• Dead Lift – Lifting weights or vehicles up to about straight off the ground until knees lock in a standing position. Lift is for either maximum weight, maximum repetitions with a fixed weight, or for time whilst holding a single repetition. In recent years, a similar keg-loaded apparatus to that described above for the squat has been used.
• Keg Toss – Competitors must throw kegs, of increasing weight, over a high bar. A variation using kettlebells was added to the 2015 competition, while in 2017 gold bricks were used.
• Weight Throw – a weight is thrown overhead with the goal being to clear a barrier above the competitor. The goal is to throw the weight the highest.
• Car Carry – Competitors stand inside a stripped-down automobile, which is missing some of its roof and all of its bottom and interior, and carry it across a course. Players are scored by how fast they carried the car across the finish line or how far they were able to get the car before the time-limit expired.
• Hercules Hold – The athlete stands between two hinged pillars, gripping handles that prevent the pillars from falling to the side. The pillars are held for the longest possible time.
• Carry and Drag – An anchor and a chain are carried to the end of a set distance, where they must be attached to each other and then dragged back the same distance.
• Farmer's Walk – Competitors carry heavy objects weighing from 275 to 375 lbs in each hand for a set distance, and compete for the fastest time. A variation involves use of a heavy frame with parallel handles or heavy objects attached to handles, and another involves much heavier weights. This event is usually done on the same course as the Carry and Drag is and conducted as a race, but one competition in Sanya, China saw the competitors compete individually carrying the weights up a small set of stairs. A competition in Victoria Falls, Zambia 2001 saw the competitors race two at a time along a course requiring several turns.
• Super Yoke – Apparatus composed of a crossbar and two uprights. The uprights each have a heavy weight attached to them, such as a refrigerator or diesel engine, and the competitors must carry the yoke on their shoulders for a short distance.
• Husafell Stone – A flat, somewhat triangular rock weighing around 400 lb is carried high on the chest for a set distance or for overall distance within a time limit. During some years which the competition took place in Africa, this event was known as the Africa Stone and the stone was in the shape of the continent as it appears on a map. The 2017 competition called this event the Elephant Carry, and the stone was shaped like the head and face of an African elephant.
• Duck Walk– An object with a handle is carried, suspended between the legs, over a set course.
• Log Throw / Caber toss – A five-meter-long log is thrown for distance or for height over a bar. When thrown for distance, the event is conducted similarly to the normal caber toss but with distance replacing technique. The length of the throw is determined by measuring the distance between where the competitor's toes were when he tossed and the tip of the log, based on where it first landed.
• Tug of War – One on one tug of war in a single-elimination tournament. In the first few competitions, this determined the champion and served as the final event.
• Pole Pushing – One on one pole pushing in a Sumo-style ring in a single-elimination tournament. The pole has handles at either end.
• Crucifix – Weights are held straight out at each side for as long a time as possible. A common variation entails weights being held out in front, using either one or both hands.
• Giant Dumbbell Press — Single-handed dumbbells are hoisted from the ground onto the competitor's shoulder, from where, with one hand, he must raise it vertically over his head and lockout his arm. With four weights between, scoring is based on time and number of successful lifts.
• Basque Circle/Stone Circle/Conan's Wheel – A competitor takes hold of the handle of a metal basket by placing the handle on his forearms. Inside the basket, usually, is at least of heavy stones. Holding the basket in the crook of his elbow, the competitor carries the basket in a clockwise manner over a platform with a circumference. The event is contested for distance.
• Norse Hammers – Added to the competition for the first time in 2015, the Norse Hammers is similar to the Fingal Fingers event. Three hammers, shaped like those of Norse god Thor, must be flipped over. Unlike the Fingal Fingers, the competitors must lift the hammer from the side before pushing it up. There are three hammers, weighing 350, 365, and 380 pounds, respectively. In order to complete the event, all three hammers must be flipped within the time limit.
• Circus Barbell – Similar to the Overhead Press, this event gets its name from the apparatus used which resembles the classically shaped barbell used by circus strongmen. The barbell, which weighs, consists of two heavy spheres with a thick, flexible bar that makes it difficult for the competitors to lift. The event is conducted for reps within a time limit and the movement to complete the lift resembles a clean and press lift.

Championship breakdown

Multiple time champions

Most top three places

Championships by country

Other

Hall of Fame