Big Loz couldn’t help but beam with pride for the brand new champ.
Renowned strongman commentator and 2016 Europe’s Strongest Man, Laurence “Big Loz” Shahlaei has worked as a coach for a lot of high-level strength athletes, including the 2023 World’s Strongest Man (WSM), Mitchell Hooper. Following Hooper’s 2023 WSM victory, Shahlaei and his wife Liz Shahlaei shared their thoughts and opinions in regards to the news on his YouTube channel.
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The Shahlaeis began the video with a recap of the last day of competition, starting with the Circus Dumbbell. They noted that 2020 WSM winner Oleksii Novikov was expected to do well based on his long string of dominating the event in past competitions, while Hooper and defending champion Tom Stoltman may likely lose points on the leaderboard.
Liz expressed her thoughts in regards to the refereeing during this event, highlighting some potentially questionable lockout calls, while Big Loz noted that the calls were no less than consistent with all of the athletes.
He was most shocked that 2020 World’s Strongest Man Oleksii Novikov didn’t win the event — Novikov would tie for second place, together with Tom and Luke Stoltman, and Pavlo Kordiyaka. All 4 competitors accomplished a lift with the 132.5-kilogram (291-pound) dumbbell. Hooper and Evan Singleton tied for the win in that event, successfully lifting the 140.4-kilogram (309-pound) dumbbell.
Next up was the Truck Pull. Every man that was still within the competition finished in lower than 40 seconds, which surprised Loz. Hooper won that event with a time of 30.24 seconds, which padded his overall lead over Stoltman going into the ultimate event.
“I even have to say, I’ve never seen the Truck Pull done so quickly at World’s Strongest Man.”
Indeed, the last time a vehicle pull was performed faster in a WSM Finals event was Manfred Hoberl’s blazing 29.64-second truck pull within the 1994 WSM contest.
Shahlaei also noted that he was glad there gave the impression to be no controversy over who won the event, as Hooper’s time exceeded the runner-up by greater than two full seconds.
“The winner was a transparent winner,” Big Loz said while declaring that Hooper’s previous performance within the event — 49.24 seconds within the 2022 WSM — wasn’t as competitive as his recent performance.
“He’s worked extremely hard at this. This whole competition has just been phenomenal. I’ve been blown away.”
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The couple then covered the Atlas Stones, wherein Hooper placed second behind Stoltman. Nonetheless, Hooper’s collection of points on the leaderboard was still adequate to clinch the title. Loz and Liz even showed Loz’s live response as the outcomes were shared online. The coach summed up his client’s performance as a dominant one.
“It’s been an emotional week. We’re so happy with Mitch Hooper. We’re happy with all of the athletes. Obviously I’m coaching Mitch, and I’m invested in him.”
They concluded the video by recapping the highest ten as a collective, and he saluted four-time World’s Strongest Man (2011, 2013, 2015-2016) Brian Shaw, who made his last appearance at the competition.
“It’s been a pleasure and a nightmare at times to compete against him in my profession, but it surely’s been an honor, and I hope he goes on and does great things.”
Featured Image: @biglozwsm on Instagram