The 2024 U105KG America’s Strongest Man took place on July 27th in Round Rock, Texas. It gathered the 13 of the nation’s greatest Strongmen weighing under 105 kilograms (231.5 pounds), in order to determine who the strongest is. Well, after five events, Zack McCarley managed to tally up the most points and claim the title.
Zack McCarley did not have the best opening on the first two events, but managed to pull it back with three consecutive top three finishes at the end. Consequently, he concluded the competition with a total of 48.5 points, which was 4.5 points more than what the second-place finisher achieved.
2024 U105KG America’s Strongest Man Results
- Zack McCarley — 48.5 points
- John Alimo — 44 points
- Justin Loy — 42 points
- James Deffinbaugh — 39 points
- Kevin Candito — 37.5 points
- Aidan Howell — 35 points
- Garrett Payne — 33 points
- Philip Brinkman — 32.5 points
- Mike O’Connor — 32.5 points
- Christopher Otero — 32 points
- Edwin Young — 29 points
- Shane Darrow — 25.5 points
- Damon Curtis — 24.5 points
Event Recap
Event One — Max Log Lift
The first event of the 2024 U105KG America’s Strongest Man was the Max Log Lift. As the name indicates, the athletes had multiple attempts to establish their one-rep-max.
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Aidan Howell had the most impressive overhead press of the entire lineup. He ended up locking out a 175-kilogram (386-pound) Log, which is beyond impressive considering that he weighed below 105 kilograms (231.5 pounds). So, the lift was over 1.6x his bodyweight.
The second-place went to Edwin Young, who lifted just 3 kilograms (6.6 pounds) less than the winner. Moreover, third-place was not far behind either, since Garrett Payne found success with a 168-kilogram (370.5-pound) Log.
- Aidan Howell — 175 kilograms
- Edwin Young — 172 kilograms
- Garrett Payne — 168 kilograms
- John Alimo — 163 kilograms
- Justin Loy — 159 kilograms
- Zack McCarley — 154 kilograms
- Kevin Candito — 150 kilograms
- Mike O’Connor — 150 kilograms
- Shane Darrow — 150 kilograms
- Christopher Otero — 141 kilograms
- Philip Brinkman — 136 kilograms
- Damon Curtis — 136 kilograms
- James Deffinbaugh — 127 kilograms
Event Two — Deadlift
The second event of the 2024 U105KG America’s Strongest Man competition was the Deadlift for Reps. In turn, the athletes first had to lock out 279-kg (615-lb) and 293-kg (646-lb), before performing a 306-kg (674.5-lb) deadlift for as many repetitions as possible.
The deadlift is a standout event for Cristopher Otero, who is easily one of the greatest in his division when it comes to this discipline. So, he managed to top the leaderboards with a total of 10 reps and was the only man to get double digits.
Multiple other men also put up impressive performances on the deadlift, with James Deffinbaugh taking second-place. He performed nine reps in total, beating Kevin Candito and Shane Darrow, who tied for third with eight reps each.
- Christopher Otero — 10 reps
- James Deffinbaugh — 9 reps
- Kevin Candito — 8 reps
- Shane Darrow — 8 reps
- John Alimo — 7 reps
- Damon Curtis — 7 reps
- Garrett Payne — 7 reps
- Justin Loy — 6 reps
- Zack McCarley — 5 reps
- Mike O’Connor — 5 reps
- Aidan Howell — 4 reps
- Edwin Young — 3 reps
- Philip Brinkman — 2 reps
Event Three — Medley
The competition started heating up on the third event, which tasked the athletes with performing multiple tasks. Firstly, they had to perform a 147-kilogram (324-pound) Farmer’s Walk for 15 meters. Then, they had to carry a 147-kilogram (324-pound) Sandbag for another 15 meters. The goal was to finish the event in the shortest time possible.
The strength of the field was showcased perfectly in the Medley event, as the battle for first place came down to just 0.6 seconds. So, it was basically a photo-finish, with James Deffinbaugh coming on top. He finished the event in 22.25 seconds, narrowly beating out Zack McCarley. Moreover, third place went to Kevin Candito with a time of 23.37 seconds.
- James Deffinbaugh — 22.25 seconds
- Zack McCarley — 22.87 seconds
- Kevin Candito — 23.37 seconds
- Christopher Otero — 24.03 seconds
- Justin Loy — 24.69 seconds
- Damon Curtis — 26.93 seconds
- Philip Brinkman — 27.00 seconds
- Mike O’Connor — 27.63 seconds
- John Alimo — 15.77 meters
- Edwin Young — 15.24 meters
- Shane Darrow — 10.83 meters
- Aidan Howell — 9.35 meters
- Garrett Payne — 7.24 meters
Event Four — Arm-Over-Arm Truck Pull
The second-to-last event of the 2024 U105KG America’s Strongest Man was an Arm-Over-Arm Truck Pull. The weight of the truck was unknown, but the athletes had to pull it for a distance of 15 meters in the shortest time possible.
The margin between first and second place once again came down to just a fraction of a second. Justin Loy was on the winning end of the duel, taking maximum points with a time of 15.29 seconds. On the other hand, Philip Brinkman had to settle for second place with a time of 15.75 seconds.
As if that wasn’t tight enough, the third place finisher was decided by just 0.03 seconds. It went to the hands of Zack McCarley, who crossed the finish line in 17.22 seconds.
- Justin Loy — 15.29 seconds
- Philip Brinkman — 15.75 seconds
- Zack McCarley — 17.19 seconds
- John Alimo — 17.22 seconds
- Kevin Candito — 17.25 seconds
- Mike O’Connor — 18.25 seconds
- James Deffinbaugh — 18.44 seconds
- Garrett Payne — 18.62 seconds
- Aidan Howell — 18.69 seconds
- Shane Darrow — 19.25 seconds
- Damon Curtis — 20.50 seconds
- Edwin Young — 25.56 seconds
- Christopher Otero — 40.44 seconds
Event Five — Sandbag Toss
The Sandbag Toss was the final event of the 2024 U105 KG America’s Strongest Man. It is quite a common event in Strongman competitions, but it is rarely the final one. So, it was definitely an interesting end to the competitions. The event consisted of four sandbags ranging in weight from 18-kg (40-lb) to 25-kg (55-lb).
Zack McCarley won the final event and thus officially claimed the overall win as well. He completed all four sandbags in just 12.08 seconds, directly beating some of his rivals for the title. Aidan Howell finished half a second after Zack, while John Alimo finished in third place with a time of 13.02.
- Zack McCarley — 4 in 12.08 s
- Aidan Howell — 4 in 12.52 s
- John Alimo — 4 in 13.02 s
- Philip Brinkman — 4 in 15.36 s
- Edwin Young — 4 in 15.84 s
- Mike O’Connor — 4 in 16.27 s
- Garrett Payne — 4 in 16.93 s
- James Deffinbaugh — 4 in 18.02 s
- Justin Loy — 4 in 18.18 s
- Christopher Otero — 3 in 12.93 s
- Damon Curtis — 3 in 20.20 s
- Kevin Candito — 3 in 35.83 s
- Shane Darrow — 3 in 37.56 s
Related: 2024 Wales Strongest Man Results — Jacob Brooke Victorious
Zack McCarley is definitely a very experienced athlete, since this was not his first win at the U105KG America’s Strongest Man. In fact, this was his fourth U105KG ASM title, but a surprising amount of time has passed since the last time that he won. Namely, Zack was crowned the champion back in 2011, 2012, and 2013. So, more than a decade later, Zack has found his way to the top of the podium once again.
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