A raucous last day of the World’s Strongest Man ends with a first-time title.

Written by Robert Zeglinski Last updated on April 23, 2023

The game of strongman has a recent king, and now he gets to sit down on his throne in Myrtle Beach, SC.

After the wild gauntlet that was the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM), Mitchell Hooper used the ultimate day of the competition to capture his first WSM title. Former two-time reigning champion Tom Stoltman (2021-2022) and 2020 victor Oleksii Novikov rounded out the rostrum. Here’s an summary of the event-by-event results from Day 4 of the 2023 WSM and the official standings leaderboard from the 2023 WSM Finals.

Editor’s Note: Results were provided by our official reporter in attendance. These results weren’t considered official until after they were confirmed on the World’s Strongest Man homepage.

2023 WSM Finals Leaderboard

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Here’s a recap of the outcomes from the fourth and final day of the 2023 WSM, including how each of the highest 10 competitors fared on the Max Dumbbell, Bus Pull, and Atlas Stones.

Max Dumbbell Recap

The Max Dumbbell tasked the respective athletes with a single-arm, overhead press of an oversized, thick-handled dumbbell. The athletes lifted in rounds of steadily increasing weight until they couldn’t lift the following sequential dumbbell.

The weights of the dumbbells featured were as follows: 115 kilograms (254 kilos), 125 kilograms (275 kilos), 132.5 kilograms (291 kilos), 140 kilograms (308 kilos), 145 kilograms (319 kilos), 151 kilograms (333 kilos — a World Record weight), and 155 kilograms (342 kilos).

The event began with an unlucky shake-up for South Africa’s Jaco Schoonwinkel. In his first-ever WSM Finals, Schoonwinkel appeared to suffer an injury during his first lift of the event. The athlete could be forced to withdraw in a result that led to his eventual Tenth-place finish.

Mitchell Hooper and Evan Singleton would tie for first place within the Max Dumbbell with 4 successful lifts.

1. Mitchell Hooper — 4 lifts
2. Evan Singleton — 4 lifts
3. Oleksii Novikov — Three lifts
4. Tom Stoltman — Three lifts
5. Pavlo Kordiyaka — Three lifts
6. Luke Stoltman — Three lifts
7. Trey Mitchell — Two lifts
8. Brian Shaw — Two lifts
9. Mathew Ragg — Two lifts
10. Jaco Schoonwinkel — Withdrawn

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Bus Pull Recap

Next on the docket for the 2023 WSM elite was the Bus Pull. This event gave the respective competitors the target of pulling a staggering 23,133-kilogram (51,000-pound) bus so far as possible down a 25-meter (82-foot) path with a deadline of 1 minute.

Hooper once more won the event, ending the Bus Pull in 30.24 seconds. This event marked Hooper’s eighth event victory throughout the competition.

1. Mitchell Hooper — 30.24 seconds
2. Tom Stoltman — 32.27 seconds
3. Evan Singleton — 32.27 seconds
4. Pavlo Kordiyaka — 32.46 seconds
5. Trey Mitchell — 32.49 seconds
6. Brian Shaw — 32.65 seconds
7. Luke Stoltman — 32.83 seconds
8. Mathew Ragg — 36.29 seconds
9. Oleksii Novikov — 33.35 seconds
10. Jaco Schoonwinkel — Withdrawn

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Atlas Stones Recap

As is WSM tradition, the Atlas Stones put a cherry on top of the 2023 WSM. The athletes needed to lift five progressively heavier stones onto their respective platforms inside a one-minute deadline. The five stones had weights of 150 kilograms (330 kilos), 160 kilograms (350 kilos), 180 kilograms (395 kilos), 200 kilograms (440 kilos), and 210 kilograms (460 kilos).

Entering this final event, all Hooper needed to secure his first WSM title was a minimum sixth-place result. After just a few competitors faltered on the fifth Atlas Stone, Hooper’s second-place finish was good enough to pen him down in strongman history. Though, runner-up Tom Stoltman would win the Atlas Stones event by lifting all five Stones in 33.26 seconds to entrench himself on the 2023 WSM podium.

1. Tom Stoltman — 5 stones, 33.26 seconds
2. Mitchell Hooper — 5 stones, 36.96 seconds
3. Trey Mitchell — 5 reps, 45.72 seconds
4. Oleksii Novikov — 4 reps, 27.43 seconds
5. Evan Singleton — 4 reps, 28.16 seconds
6. Brian Shaw — 4 stones, 35.88 seconds
7. Pavlo Kordiyaka — 4 stones, 45.86 seconds
8. Luke Stoltman — 4 stones, 48.49 seconds
9. Mathew Ragg — 4 stones, 49.5 seconds
10. Jaco Schoonwinkel — Withdrawn

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A Historic World’s Strongest Man

There was no shortage of worthy storylines on the 2023 WSM.

Along with his title, Hooper capped certainly one of the more remarkable approximate one-year runs in strongman history. Now, while sitting at the highest, he might be starting an prolonged reign of dominance because the sport’s preeminent royalty.

On a bittersweet but likely still glad note, four-time WSM champion (2011, 2013, 2015-2016) Brian Shaw finished in seventh place in his last WSM Finals. The strongman legend walks off into the sunset having qualified for the WSM Finals on 15 of 16 occasions in his profession.

Meanwhile, the previous two-time defending champion in Tom Stoltman fell wanting a historic three-peat, but that doesn’t mean he’s lost his place as an elite competitor. Within the weeks and months ahead and in any ensuing WSM, it wouldn’t be a far cry to see Stoltman contend for a lot of strongman titles.

So far as debuts goes, Mathew Ragg’s WSM debut was the primary Recent Zealand competitor’s appearance within the WSM final in 40 years, with Allan Hallberg within the 1983 WSM being the last representative. South Africa’s Jaco Schoonwinkel also had an especially solid showing, dominating his Qualifying Group before falling to injury.

Indeed, the 2023 WSM was a cornucopia of incredible strength and athletic resolve. In the long run, Hooper stood tall above the remainder of his talented peers.

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