The 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic is taking place on March 1-2, in Columbus, Ohio, but day one has recently concluded. The show features an insanely strong lineup, including three athletes who have previously won the competition, among which is the defending champion, Mitchell Hooper. However, Hafthor Bjornsson is the one who will be entering day two with a lead.
2024 Arnold Strongman Classic Day One consists of two events. The first one was the Max Elephant Bar Deadlift, which turned out to be better than ever. As many expected, Hafthor Bjornsson came out of his retirement in the most perfect way possible. He was the only man to exceed 1,000 pounds, and thus won the event with ease.
The second event was the Timber Carry, which was a true test of grip strength and endurance. Moreover, being the final event of day one, all of the athletes were ready to give 100% in hopes of securing as high of a placement as possible going into the second day. Hooper talked about his dominance in this event, and proved it by finishing ahead of all of his rivals.
Hafthor Bjornsson made a plan going into the competition and executed it perfectly on day one. He won the deadlift, but refrain himself from going after the World Record. Because of this, Hafthor managed to place second on the timber carry, dropping just one point overall on day one.
Also Check: How To Watch 2024 Arnold Strongman & Strongwoman Classic [Free Livestream]
2024 Arnold Strongman Classic Results Leaderboards
- Hafthor Björnsson — 21 points
- Mitchell Hooper — 20 points
- Evan Singleton —15 points
- Tom Stoltman —13 points
- Bobby Thompson — 13 points
- Mateusz Kieliszkowski — 12 points
- Martins Licis —12 points
- Oleksii Novikov — 11 points
- Tom Evans — 7 points
- Oskar Ziółkowski — 6 points
- Maxime Boudreault — 0 points
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Related: Mitchell Hooper Gives His Prediction for 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic
Day One (March 1st) Event Recap
Event One — Max Elephant Bar Deadlift
The Elephant Bar Deadlift has been a staple in multiple editions of the Arnold Strongman Classic, but this year brought some changes. Contrary to previous years, the athletes were not allowed to use ‘deadlift briefs’, which help lift a bit more weight.
In this event, the athletes attempted progressively heavier deadlifts until they reached their one-rep-max. Important factor of the event is the Elephant Barbell, which is longer than the standard one and bends a bit more. So, the feeling of pulling the elephant barbell is different than usual, but also allows for more weight when the technique is mastered.
As was expected judging from his training lifts, Hafthor Bjornsson managed to win the deadlift event, being the only man to pull over 1,000 pounds. Specifically, Hafthor deadlift 1,006 pounds (456.3 kilograms) and made it look mind-blowingly easy. He definitely could have done more, but settled for the event win.
Bobby Thompson’s unusual strategy on the deadlifts secured him a second-place finish, and perhaps ensured that he remains the freshest athlete in the lineup. Instead of building up the weight, Bobby performed just one attempt of 436 kilograms (961 pounds). So, he made sure to have more than enough energy for other events.
Going into the competition, Mitchell Hooper stated that he could potentially lift over 1,000 pounds. However, after seeing that some of his rivals underperformed, Mitchell decided to take no risks and secured a third place finish with a 431-kilogram (948-pound) deadlift.
- Hafthor Björnsson — 456-kg
- Bobby Thompson — 436-kg
- Mitchell Hooper — 431-kg
- Evan Singleton — 427-kg
- Tom Stoltman — 415-kg
- Oleksii Novikov — 409-kg
- Tom Evans — 397-kg
- Martins Licis — 391-kg
- Mateusz Kieliszkowski — 388-kg
- Oskar Ziółkowski — 370-kg
- Maxime Boudreault — No lift
Event Two — Timber Carry
Similar to the deadlift, the Timber / Frame Carry was also present in multiple editions of the Arnold Strongman Classic. It is infamous for being extremely heavy, as the weight of the implement for this event came out to 400 kilograms (881.8 pounds). However, to make it even more difficult, the athletes were not allowed to use lifting straps. So, their grip strength had to be insanely good to hold and stabilize the frame while carrying it across a distance of 11 meters. The time limit for the event was 30 seconds.
Mitchell Hooper has talked about being the fastest athlete in Strongman and proved it in a very dominant fashion. His confidence definitely paid off, as he managed to complete the timber carry in 7.10 seconds. Unfortunately, he missed out on the World Record by just a few fractions of a second, which would have made his day even better.
Hafthor Bjornsson was not backed by many people to perform well in the frame carry, as it has not been one of his best events in the past. Well, the situation has changed and Hafthor has improved. So, he secured a second place finish with a time of 8.40 seconds. He held his breath throughout the entire event and moved surprisingly well for a +190KG man.
Mateusz Kieliszkowski is the current World Record holder in this event, but he could not quite replicate the run. But, he still finished with a quick carry which came out to 8.69 seconds. It made up for his bad performance on the deadlifts, as third place in the timber carry brought in a lot of points.
- Mitchell Hooper — 7.10 seconds
- Hafthor Björnsson — 8.40 seconds
- Mateusz Kieliszkowski — 8.69 seconds
- Martins Licis — 14.81 seconds
- Evan Singleton — 8.89 meters
- Tom Stoltman — 8.13 meters
- Oleksii Novikov — 7.49 meters
- Oskar Ziółkowski — 4.9 meters
- Bobby Thompson — 4.01 meters
- Tom Evans — 3.99 meters
- Maxime Boudreault — Withdrew
Watch day one here:
Remaining Events (March 2nd)
- 12:40 p.m. ET: Men’s Dinnie Stone Carry
- 2:00 p.m. ET: Men’s Apollon Wheels
- 4:00 p.m. ET: Men’s Stone Medley
Prize Purse Breakdown
The prize purse for the 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic comes out to $182,000.
- 1st Place: $80,000
- 2nd Place: $25,000
- 3rd Place: $20,000
- 4th Place: $15,000
- 5th Place: $13,000
- 6th Place: $8,000
- 7th Place: $7,000
- 8th Place: $6,000
- 9th Place: $5,000
- 10th Place: $3,000
Day one has always proved to be an indicator of who could win the Arnold Strongman Classic. However, this year’s lineup is so stacked, that even the slightest mistake on day two could be detrimental for anyone. Hafthor Bjornsson is in the lead after two events, but day two features one of the events that does not suit him well. The reason for it is Hafthor’s pec tear from last year, as he has not yet regained his Overhead Pressing power.
Past Arnold Strongman Classic Champions
- 2023: Mitchell Hooper
- 2022: Martins Licis
- 2020: Hafthor Bjornsson
- 2019: Hafthor Bjornsson
- 2018: Hafthor Bjornsson
- 2017: Brian Shaw
- 2016: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2015: Brian Shaw
- 2014: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2013: Vytautas Lalas
- 2012: Michael Jenkins
- 2011: Brian Shaw
- 2010: Derek Poundstone
- 2009: Derek Poundstone
- 2008: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2007: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2006: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2005: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2004: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2003: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2002: Mark Henry
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