Tom Stoltman ends victoriously in 2022 World’s Strongest Man.
It’s official. Tom Stoltman is the 2022 World’s Strongest Man champion. After an exciting and grueling five days, Tom Stoltman was victorious earning the first place prize in strongman. Tom Stoltman is the back-to-back winner after winning WSM in 2021 and is now only the tenth competitor to win the event twice.
After five fierce and competitive days of behemoths battling it out to claim the prize of the 2022 World’s Strongest Man title, it’s come to an end. Tom Stoltman finished first in only one final event–Atlas Stones. Although, he placed in the top three in the rest of the final events, which clinched him a comfortable victory, with more than 10 points between him and the second-place finisher, Martins Licis.
When the first day of the final events ended, it was all Oleksii Novikov who lead the leaderboard to start the final day. It wasn’t until the final two events that Novikov slipped off in the rankings after finishing seventh in the Reign Total Body Fuel Power Stairs. Tom Stoltman steadily finished in the top three of every final event which gave him an edge heading into the final event–the Atlas Stones. Winning the 2022 WSM came down to the final event, where Stoltman only had a 1.5-point lead over Novikov. Fatigue seem to hit Novikov in the last rounds of the competition, and he ended up getting blown out by Stoltman in their two-person heat.
Here are the full final placings for the five-day competition:
World’s Strongest Man 2022 Points & Placings
| No. | Name | Points |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tom Stoltman – UK | 53.5 |
| 2 | Martins Licis – USA | 43 |
| 3 | Oleksii Novikov – Ukraine | 43 |
| 4 | Brian Shaw – USA | 37.5 |
| 5 | Maxime Boudreault – Canada | 34.5 |
| 6 | Trey Mitchell – USA | 34 |
| 7 | Luke Stoltman – UK | 30.5 |
| 8 | Mitchell Hooper – Canada | 30 |
| 9 | Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted – Iceland | 13 |
| 10 | Gabriel Rhéaume – Canda | 11 |
Tom Stoltman, Luke Stoltman, Martins Licis, Oleksii Novikov, & Mitchell Hooper all came out on top with the highest placing scores by the end of the 2022 WSM qualifier rounds. This set up an epic battle between some of the most dominant strongmen competitors in the sport today. This also included Tom Stoltman, the former WSM champion from last year.
Many of the top-scoring athletes just squeaked by – with the ultimate remaining 6 other strongmen who qualified to bring heat to the proceedings. It ensured that the finals would not be a cakewalk for any of the competitors.
By the close of the day one final, Oleksii Novikov was in the lead – but just barely with Tom Stoltman trailing behind by 1.5 points. The two of these competitors were clear ahead of the pack – with the third placing athlete, Martins Licis at just 20 points. Of course, with three more events in the day two finals – anything was possible for a massive shift.
Day two of the WSM final consisted of three events–Bus Pull, Reign Total Body Fuel Power Stairs, and Atlas Stones. It seemed Novikov was continuing his dominant campaign from the day prior after the first event of the day (Bus Pull) and even set a world record in the Flinstone Barbell with a 246kg (524.3lbs) lift. However, he didn’t perform well in the last two events, giving the reigning champ Tom Stoltman plenty of breathing room to comfortably head into the final event in the first place–Stoltman placed in the top three of each final event from start to finish.
Tom Stoltman is a British Strongman who clinched his consecutive WSM title after today. This makes him one of ten competitors to have won the event twice, and he’s the only strongman to win back-to-back titles since Brian Shaw in 2015-2016. Stoltman competed in this competition with his brother, Luke Stoltman who wound up placing seventh.
You can also see a brief recap of Tom Stoltman’s performance in each event below.
2022 WSM Qualifying Stage Day 1
Loading Race
The loading race kicked off the 2022 World’s Strongest Man and lead the way to see which strongman had it in them to make it to the finals. Competitors loaded five objects of different weights onto a platform. Tom Stoltman loaded the five objects in 38.39 seconds to win group 1.
Deadlift Ladder
The deadlift ladder was the next event, where athletes deadlifted five barbells with weight incrementally increasing from 300 kg (660 lbs) to 380 kg (840 lbs). Tom Stoltman lead group 1 again, completing five reps in 51.46 seconds.
2022 WSM Qualifying Stage Day 2
Car Walk
The car walk started the next day of the qualifiers in Sacramento. Athletes needed to lift a hollowed-out car and walk it 25 meters. Tom Stoltman continued his outstanding performance into day two of the qualifiers and finished first place in his group. It took him 14.65 seconds to carry the car 25 meters.
Log Lift
As the name suggests, competitors were asked to lift a log off the ground over their heads as many times as possible. Tom Stoltman savagely claimed the top spot in his group again and lifted the log for eight reps.
2022 WSM Qualifying Stage Day 3
Wrecking Ball Hold
The wrecking ball hold commenced the final day of qualifiers. Athletes had to hold a bar with two wrecking balls on either side (weighing 228kg/500 lbs) for as long as they could. Tom Stoltman chose to sit this one out to rest since he already qualified for the finals over the weekend.
Stone Off
This even closed out the qualifiers. The stone off was a chance for second and third-place finishers to face off to earn a spot in the WSM finals. Of course, Stoltman didn’t have to participate in this event either. Anyhow, the competitors taking part had to see who could survive longer lifting stones over a bar 1.25 meters off the ground.
2022 WSM Finals Stage Day 1
KNAACK Giant’s Medley
The KNAACK Giant’s Medley was the first event of the 2022 WSM finals. Tom Stoltman seized the second place spot after carrying two KNAACK boxes weighing 125kg (275.6lbs), followed by a 455 kg (1,003 lbs) yoke for a length of 10 meters in 24.75 seconds.
Deadlift
Next up was the deadlift, where each competitor deadlifted a car weighing 360 kg (794 lbs) for as many reps as possible within a minute. Tom Stoltman came in second again after deadlifting 794 pounds for 13 reps.
Flinstone Barbell
This event require the strongmen to take turns lifting a barbell loaded with a pair of giant stones on either side, increasing the weight in increments until only one strongman remained. Tom Stoltman continued placing well, earning yet again another second place to win to finish day one of the finals after lifting the Flinstone Barbell weighing 240 kg (529 lbs).
2022 WSM Finals Stage Day 2
Bus Pull
The bus pull was the first event of the WSM finals. The 10 finalists had to pull an 18.5-ton tour bus 30 meters for time. Tom Stoltman finished in his worst position yet, still coming in third place after towing the bus 30 meters in 44.5 seconds.
Reign Total Body Fuel Power Stairs
This event had competitors lift three 226 kg (498.2 lbs) implements up three stairs (for a total of nine). Stolman yet again came in second place when he completed nine stairs in 41.04 seconds.
Atlas Stones
The prominent final event of the World’s Strongest Man (Atlas Stones) is one of Tom Stoltman’s signature events, so he had no trouble blowing past Novikov to clinch the victory. The Atlas Stones event places five stones in front of athletes who then have to lift the five stones up as fast as possible–in two-person heats. Stoltman lifted all five stones in 25.76 seconds to win first place and secure his 2022 WSM title.
This performance earned Tom Stoltman the title of World’s Strongest Man 2022. You can get more updates and news coverage on all things strongman, strength sports, and bodybuilding right here at the Generation Iron Fitness Network!
