Just a few contenders, like Hooper, seem stronger than others heading into the weekend’s Final.

Written by Robert Zeglinski Last updated on April 20, 2023

Day Two of the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM) promised fireworks, and it didn’t disappoint in its delivery. The second day saw the athletes work through the Conan’s Wheel, Kettlebell Toss, and climactic Stone-Off to find out the ten places within the 2023 WSM Final.

Here’s where the leaderboard stands at the top of Day Two, together with a brief recap of how each athlete fared at the top of the Qualifying Round.

2023 WSM Qualifying Round Leaderboard

Rank	Name	Points
Group 1
1	Pavlo Kordiyaka — Ukraine — Finalist	25
2	Tom Stoltman — United Kingdom — Finalist	20.5
3	Bobby Thompson — USA	20
4	Konstantine Janashia — Georgia	17.5
5	Pa O’Dwyer — Ireland	13
6	Eddie Williams — Australia	9
Group 2
1	Oleksii Novikov — Ukraine — Finalist	23
2	Luke Stoltman — United Kingdom — Finalist	21
3	Gavin Bilton — United Kingdom	20
4	Thomas Evans — USA	18
5	Kristjan Jon Haraldsson — Iceland	15.5
6	Fadi El Masri — Lebanon	7.5
Group 3
1	Mitchell Hooper — Canada — Finalist	29
2	Mathew Ragg — Recent Zealand — Finalist	22.5
3	Aivars Smaukstelis — Latvia	17.5
4	Mateusz Kielszkowski — Poland	14
5	Graham Hicks — United Kingdom	11.5
6	Spenser Remick — USA	10.5
Group 4
1	Jaco Schoonwinkel — South Africa — Finalist	24
2	Brian Shaw — USA — Finalist	23.5
3	Rauno Heinla — Estonia	20.5
4	Adam Bishop — United Kingdom	14
5	Kevin Faires — USA	13.5
6	Gabriel Rheaume — Canada	9.5
Group 5
1	Trey Mitchell — USA — Finalist	26
2	Evan Singleton — USA — Finalist	24.5
3	Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Iceland	22.5
4	Mark Felix — United Kingdom	12.5
5	Paul Smith — United Kingdom	11
6	Jean-Stephen Coraboeuf — France	8.5

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2022 World’s Strongest Man Day Two Results

Listed below are the Day Two results from each Qualifying Round Group, including each athlete’s individual finishes, any relevant corresponding time, and placing throughout the Conan’s Wheel and Kettlebell Toss. Plus, there’s an overall recap of the Stone-Off event featuring just the second and third-place finishers in each group.

Conan’s Wheel Recap

As one in every of the last events of the 2023 WSM Qualifying Round, the Conan’s Wheel tested the athletes’ core strength and endurance. They’d the target of holding up a 199.5-kilogram (440-pound) bar within the Zercher position while walking around in a hard and fast circle so far as possible.

The event’s winners would rating essentially the most “degrees” or loops across the circle. A full loop the length of the circle can be considered 360 degrees.

Former 2020 WSM champion Oleksii Novikov recorded the utmost distance with 847 degrees to turn out to be the winner in Group 2. Pavlo Kordiyaka, reigning Europe’s Strongest Man (ESM) champion, notched the second-most with 749 degrees as Group 1’s winner. Kordiyaka possesses the Conan’s Wheel World Record with a rotation length of 1,009 degrees from his 2023 ESM victory.

Group 1

1. Pavlo Kordiyaka — 749 degrees
2. Pa O’Dwyer — 722 degrees
3. Bobby Thompson — 649 degrees
4. Konstantine Janashia — 633 degrees
5. Eddie Williams — 614 degrees
6. Tom Stoltman — 598 degrees

Group 2

1. Oleksii Novikov — 897 degrees
2. Gavin Bilton — 557 degrees
3. Luke Stoltman — 545 degrees
4. Kristjan Jon Haraldsson — 524 degrees
5. Fadi El Masri — 70 degrees
6. Thomas Evans — 69 degrees

Group 3

1. Mitchell Hooper — 636 degrees
2. Mathew Ragg — 628 degrees
3. Aivars Šmaukstelis —575 degrees
4. Mateusz Kieliszkowski — 538 degrees
5. Spenser Remick — 470 degrees
6. Graham Hicks — 425 degrees

Group 4

1. Jaco Schoonwinkel — 713 degrees
2. Kevin Faires — 636 degrees
3. Gabriel Rhéaume — 476 degrees
4. Rauno Heinla — 572 degrees
5. Brian Shaw — 411 degrees
6. Adam Bishop — 292 degrees

Group 5

1. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 629 degrees
2. Evan Singleton — 589 degrees
3. Trey Mitchell — 523 degrees
4. Paul Smith — 518 degrees
5. Mark Felix — 470 degrees
6. Jean-Stephen Corabeouf — 143 degrees

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Kettlebell Toss Recap

Some athletes needed a greater performance within the vital Kettlebell Toss than others. In any case, it will partly determine who qualified for his or her Group’s Stone Off.

This event pushed the competitors’ explosive power, presenting them with seven kettlebells that progressively increased in weight. They’d one minute to launch as many weights as they might over a 4.5-meter (15-foot) overhead bar.

Here was how the weights progressed in size: 20.5 kilograms (45 kilos), 21.8 kilograms (48 kilos), 22.7 kilograms (50 kilos), 22.7 kilograms (50 kilos), 24 kilograms (53 kilos), 26.3 kilograms (58 kilos), and eventually 30.8 kilograms (68 kilos).

Even while mathematically eliminated from the Finals by the point he stepped as much as compete, Mateusz Kieliszkowski fared one of the best within the Kettlebell Toss. The Polish athlete finished all seven throws in a blazing 32.44 seconds in Group 3. In the method, he snapped groupmate Mitchell Hooper’s dominant four-event winning streak.

Group 1

1. Pavlo Kordiyaka — Six reps, 18.09 seconds
2. Konstantine Janashia — Six reps, 19.93 seconds
3. Tom Stoltman — Six reps, 21.99 seconds
4. Pa O’Dwyer — Six reps, 31.71 seconds
5. Bobby Thompson — Six reps, 35.67 seconds
6. Eddie Williams — Six reps, 36.4 seconds

Group 2

1. Gavin Bilton — Six reps, 19.9 seconds
2. Luke Stoltman — Six reps, 49.35 seconds
3. Kristjan Jon Haraldsson — Five reps, 15.57 seconds
4. Thomas Evans — Five reps, 28.68 seconds
5. Fadi El Masri — 4 reps, 20.61 seconds
6. Oleksii Novikov — One rep, 9.56 seconds

Group 3

1. Mateusz Kieliszkowski — Seven reps, 32.44 seconds
2. Mitchell Hooper — Six reps, 17.18 seconds
3. Mathew Ragg — Six reps, 21.96 seconds
4. Aivars Šmaukstelis — Six reps, 25.41 seconds
5. Spenser Remick — Five reps, 24.31 seconds
6. Graham Hicks — 4 reps, 20.51 seconds

Group 4

1. Brian Shaw — Seven reps, 48.45 seconds
2. Adam Bishop — Six reps, 32.29 seconds
3. Kevin Faires — Five reps, 34.09 seconds
4. Jaco Schoonwinkel — Six reps, 47.32 seconds
5. Rauno Heinla — Five reps, 44.31 seconds
6. Gabriel Rhéaume — Three reps, 14 seconds

Group 5

1. Trey Mitchell — Seven reps, 34.42 seconds
2. Evan Singleton — Six reps, 28.81 seconds
3. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — Six reps, 27.66 seconds
4. Mark Felix — 4 reps, 42.66 seconds
5. Jean-Stephen Corabeouf — Two reps, 23.65 seconds
6. Paul Smith — One rep, 28.62 seconds

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Stone Off Recap

Finally, it was time to find out the opposite half of the 2023 WSM Finals field. With Novikov, Hooper, Trey Mitchell, first-time WSM Finalist Kordiyaka, and first-time WSM competitor Jaco Schoonwinkel winning their respective groups, the second and third-place finishes squared off head-to-head in an Atlas Stone battle to earn berths for the weekend’s Finals.

The participating athletes needed to lift progressively heavier Atlas Stones over a bar separating them from their opponents. The weights ranged from 140 kilograms (308 kilos) to 200 kilograms (440 kilos). The last Stone’s weight can be lifted for reps until one in every of the strongmen couldn’t proceed.

Tom Stoltman, Luke Stoltman, Brian Shaw, Mathew Ragg, and Evan Singleton all earned places within the 2023 WSM Finals by winning their Stone Off. The 2023 WSM is Ragg’s first appearance in the competition. 2023 marks Singleton’s first time reaching the Finals in 4 consecutive WSM appearances — his 2020 and 2021 showings were interrupted by withdrawals resulting from injury, while he did not pass the Qualifying Stage in 2022.

Group 1

1. Tom Stoltman  — 3 stones — Winner
2. Bobby Thompson — 3 stones

Group 2

1. Luke Stoltman — 7 stones — Winner
2. Gavin Bilton — 7 stones

Group 3

1. Mathew Ragg — 8 stones — Winner
2. Aivars Smaukstelis — 8 stones

Group 4

1. Brian Shaw — 11 stones — Winner
2. Rauno Heinla — 11 stones

Group 5

1. Evan Singleton — 8 stones — Winner
2. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 8 stones

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2023 World’s Strongest Man Final Athletes

Listed below are the ten confirmed athletes within the 2023 WSM Finals:

1. Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine)
2. Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
3. Mitchell Hooper (Canada)
4. Jaco Schoonwinkel (South Africa)
5. Trey Mitchell (United States)
6. Tom Stoltman (United Kingdom)
7. Luke Stoltman (United Kingdom)
8. Mathew Ragg (Recent Zealand)
9. Brian Shaw (United States)
10. Evan Singleton (United States)

A few of the more notable achievements in qualifying for the 2023 WSM Final include two-time defending champion Tom Stoltman surviving his Stone Off. The Scottish athlete will officially have the chance for a three-peat victory over the weekend. Meanwhile, after blitzing the 2022 WSM for a surprise Finals berth, Mitchell Hooper may seem to be a bona fide favorite heading into the weekend and the person who might unseat Stoltman from his throne.

From a longer-term perspective, the legendary Brian Shaw prolonged his streak of WSM Final appearances to fifteen. In his last WSM before a strongman retirement later this summer, the four-time champion (2011, 2013, 2015-2016) can have officially made it 15 of 16 appearances within the Finals over his illustrious profession. The one instance Shaw of ever missing the Finals was his WSM debut in 2008.

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A Final Showdown

The ten finalists within the 2023 WSM now get to enjoy a rest day on Friday before returning to compete within the Finals on Saturday, Apr. 22, and Sunday, Apr. 23, 2023. While many eyes is likely to be on Stoltman in his repeat quest, on Hooper in attempting to finish his meteoric climb up strongman’s summit, and on Shaw in his last WSM, it may very well be anyone’s contest to win.

Truly, until that last Atlas Stone is lifted onto its platform on Sunday, all bets are off for the 2023 WSM.

Featured image: Todd Burandt / Courtesy of World’s Strongest Man