Hooper rises to the top of strongman in one of the more meteoric rises in the history of the sport.
Mitchell Hooper is the 2023 World’s Strongest Man Champion (WSM). The athlete is the first Canadian winner in the illustrious 46-year history of the competition. After an all-around dominant performance from start to finish, it is abundantly clear that Hooper overpowered, watched and defeated the rest of the strongman’s elite performers in Myrtle Beach, SC.
Rounding out the 2023 WSM podium were Tom Stoltman (second place) and Oleksii Novikov (third place). Second place is admirable and a quality result for Stoltman, but it certainly wasn’t what the former two-time champion (2021-2022) was hoping for either. Meanwhile, Novikov takes home his second straight podium finish after winning the 2020 WSM title.
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Here is the WSM 2023 Finals ranking:
2023 World’s Strongest Man Finals Ranking
- Mitchell Hooper (Canada) | WSM champion 2023
- Tom Stoltman (Great Britain)
- Oleksii Novikov (Ukraine)
- Trey Mitchell (United States)
- Evan Singleton (United States)
- Pavlo Kordiyaka (Ukraine)
- Brian Shaw (United States)
- Luke Stoltman (Great Britain)
- Matthew Ragg (New Zealand)
- *Jaco Schoonwinkel (South Africa) | *Withdrawn on the last day of the competition
Hooper cleared most of the competition’s schedule of events to capture his first WSM title of his career.
In the qualifying round Hooper won four of the five events he competed in in Group 3to ensure he doesn’t have to compete in the crucial stone off for a spot in the finals. After the weekend’s finale, Hooper won four out of five events before even getting to the famous Atlas Stones, effectively securing the title on a mathematical basis barring disaster. He would then finish second to cement the win. Hooper finished his performance at the 2023 WSM Championship with a staggering 53.5 points. He overtook the rest of his strong colleagues by 4.5 points.
Mitchell Hooper 2023 World’s Strongest Man Event Results
Here’s a rundown of how Hooper performed from event to event during WSM 2023:
Qualifying Round (Group 3)
- load race — First place | Five devices, 52.14 seconds
- deadlift machine — First place | Eight repetitions
- recorder — First place | Five reps, 39.51 seconds
- Conan’s wheel — First place | 636 degrees
- kettlebell throw — Second place | Six reps, 17.18 seconds
final
- Reign Total Body Fuel Shield (Run 3) — First place | 64.8 meters
- KNAACK deadlift — First place | Eight repetitions
- Fingal’s fingers — sixth place | Five reps, 49.89 seconds
- Max dumbbell — First place | Four elevators
- pull bus — First place | 30.24 seconds
- Atlas Stones — Second place | Five stones, 36.96 seconds
Hooper’s first WSM title caps what is perhaps one of the more harrowing climbs a strongman has ever seen. The athlete’s first professional show came as a rookie at WSM 2022, where he initially competed as a reserve before qualifying for the finals. He ended up finishing eighth, which now seems like a harbinger of dominance to come.
Because since then things have been going full steam ahead for the Canadian athlete.
Following his 2022 WSM blitz, Hooper qualified for the podium in nine out of nine competitions, including the 2023 WSM. With his WSM win to his credit Hooper has now won five of his last six contests. Aside from his WSM triumph, the other four competition wins are the 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic UK (ASCUK), Giants Live World Tour Finals 2022 (GLWTF), Australia’s Strongest International 2023 (ASI) and the 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic (ASC). .
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It’s impossible to accurately predict Hooper’s competitive future. However, he just completed one of the most notable year-long runs of all time in strongman with a WSM championship and is still only 27 years old.
It’s not hard to imagine that the new king of sport will hold onto his throne for a long time to come.
Featured Image: Todd Burandt / Courtesy of World’s Strongest Man
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