The 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai took place on October 18-19 in the United Arab Emirates. It consisted of six events in total, all of which were meticulously designed to test the 12 Strongmen that came to compete. Ultimately, once the entire competition was done, Aivars Šmaukstelis held the most points and officially claimed the title.
Aivars Šmaukstelis had a series of impressive performances throughout both days but really stood out in the final few events of the competition. Namely, he made sure to remain in contention for the title on day one. Aivars then managed to overtake multiple athletes on day two, finishing second in the Loading Race and winning the Atlas Stones.
2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai Results
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 57.5 points
- Adam Roszkowski — 54.5 points
- Ramin Farajnejad — 53 points
- Brian Kichton — 52.5 points
- Kevin Hazeleger — 42 points
- Graham Hicks — 39.5 points
- Jesper Hansson — 34 points
- Kelin Mills — 33.5 points
- Jihad El Masri — 27 points
- Sean Gillen — 26.5 points
- Péter Juhász — 23 points
- Andrea Invernizzi — 11 points
Related: 2025 America’s Strongest Man & Woman Results — Lucas Hatton & Olga Liashchuk Win
Event One — Dumbbell Press
The 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai kicked off with the Dumbbell Press event. The task was to perform as many reps as possible of lifting a 100-kilogram (220.5-pound) dumbbell from the floor and then overhead pressing it with one arm.
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The first event of the competition proved just how unpredictable the competition was going to be. Namely, five men ended up tying for first place, as each of them locked out exactly four repetitions. Those athletes were Aivars Šmaukstelis, Adam Roszkowski, Ramin Farajnejad, Kevin Hazeleger, and Jihad El Masri.
On the other hand, four athletes were unable to get even just one successful repetition, which goes to show just how difficult the event was.
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 4 reps
- Adam Roszkowski — 4 reps
- Ramin Farajnejad — 4 reps
- Kevin Hazeleger — 4 reps
- Jihad El Masri — 4 reps
- Brian Kichton — 3 reps
- Graham Hicks — 3 reps
- Andrea Invernizzi — 1 rep
- Jesper Hansson — No Lift
- Kelin Mills — No Lift
- Sean Gillen — No Lift
- Péter Juhász — No Lift
Event Two — Deadlift
The second event of the 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai was the Deadlift. It was similar to the opening event, as the athletes gave it their all to perform as many reps as possible once again. The weight of the deadlift remained unclear since the athletes performed the event on a special apparatus with a car loaded on it. They had 60 seconds to achieve a score and were given permission to use lifting straps.
Graham Hicks was easily the best deadlifter that the lineup had to offer. He completed a total of 12 reps, making the event look easy while securing max points. This allowed him to get back into title contention and made the competition even more interesting.
Ramin Farajnejad from Iran proved to be a great addition to the show, as he locked out nine repetitions to finish second on the deadlift. Aivars Šmaukstelis and Kelin Mills trailed Ramin by one rep. So, they tied for third place in the event.
- Graham Hicks — 12 reps
- Ramin Farajnejad — 9 reps
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 7 reps
- Kelin Mills — 7 reps
- Brian Kichton — 5 reps
- Adam Roszkowski — 4 reps
- Sean Gillen — 4 reps
- Jihad El Masri — 3 reps
- Kevin Hazeleger — 2 reps
- Jesper Hansson — 1 rep
- Andrea Invernizzi — No Lift
- Péter Juhász — No Lift
Event Three — Sandbag Toss
Moving on to the third event of the competition, it was time for the athletes to demonstrate their speed. They did this by performing the Sandbag Toss, where they faced five implements ranging in weight from 22-kg (48.5-lb) and 32-kg (70.5-lb). The height of the beam was set to 4.5 meters, while the time limit came out to exactly one minute.
Pretty much all athletes made easy work of all implements, which meant that the rankings came down to the time needed to achieve all tosses. Well, Brian Kichton turned out to be the fastest out of all 12 athletes, completing the event in just 10.78 seconds.
Ramin Farajnejad was also insanely quick, but he had to settle for second place due to a 0.13-second margin between him and Kichton. Kevin Hazeleger was the next quickest man, having finished the event in 11.87 seconds.
- Brian Kichton — 5 in 10.78 seconds
- Ramin Farajnejad — 5 in 10.91 seconds
- Kevin Hazeleger — 5 in 11.87 seconds
- Adam Roszkowski — 5 in 12.92 seconds
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 5 in 13.09 seconds
- Kelin Mills — 5 in 14.83 seconds
- Sean Gillen — 5 in 15.14 seconds
- Péter Juhász — 5 in 15.49 seconds
- Jesper Hansson — 5 in 16.94 seconds
- Andrea Invernizzi — 5 in 17.89 seconds
- Graham Hicks — 5 in 18.21 seconds
- Jihad El Masri — 4 in 41.94 seconds
Event Four — Hummer Pull
Going into the second day of the 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai, the athletes took on the Hummer Pull. As the name suggests, the competitors were connected to a large truck via a rope and then had to pull the vehicle for a distance of 25 meters. The goal was to set the quickest time possible.
The top three athletes all finished within less than half a second of each other. However, despite the marginal differences, Jasper Hansson proved to be the quickest, with his winning time coming out to 19.31 seconds.
Kelin Mills ended with a time of 19.72 seconds and grabbed a valuable second-place finish. Adam Roszkowski finished just 0.05 seconds later, which put him in third place.
- Jesper Hansson — 19.31 seconds
- Kelin Mills — 19.72 seconds
- Adam Roszkowski — 19.77 seconds
- Brian Kichton — 20.13 seconds
- Sean Gillen — 20.21 seconds
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 21.65 seconds
- Kevin Hazeleger — 21.82 seconds
- Graham Hicks — 22.08 seconds
- Péter Juhász — 22.44 seconds
- Ramin Farajnejad — 22.62 seconds
- Andrea Invernizzi — 23.36 seconds
- Jihad El Masri — 30.19 seconds
Event Five — Loading Race
The second-to-last event of the 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai was the Loading Race. So, the athletes had to pick up, carry for 10 meters and then load three sandbags onto a platform. The weight of the implements was 120-kg (264.6-lb), 140-kg (308.6-lb), and 160-kg (352.7-lb). It was a timed event, meaning that speed was once again the key element.
Péter Juhász spent the majority of the competition in the bottom half of the leaderboard, but he was the star of the Loading Race. All of his movements were swift and deliberate, making his run fast and efficient. As a result, he finished with a time of 22.61 seconds and took the event win.
Aivars Šmaukstelis finished second in the Loading Race, but that was enough for him to overtake multiple athletes on the overall leaderboards and get the lead. His finishing time of 23.38 seconds was sufficient to beat the third-place finisher, Jasper Hansson, by 0.19 seconds.
- Péter Juhász — 3 in 22.61 seconds
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 3 in 23.38 seconds
- Jesper Hansson — 3 in 23.57 seconds
- Ramin Farajnejad — 3 in 24.38 seconds
- Adam Roszkowski — 3 in 25.35 seconds
- Brian Kichton — 3 in 25.50 seconds
- Graham Hicks — 3 in 25.79 seconds
- Kevin Hazeleger — 3 in 26.90 seconds
- Jihad El Masri — 3 in 28.97 seconds
- Sean Gillen — 3 in 30.05 seconds
- Kelin Mills — 3 in 38.25 seconds
- Andrea Invernizzi — 2 in 30.00 seconds
Event Six — Atlas Stones
The 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai wrapped up with the Atlas Stones. It consisted of six stones, starting at 120 kilograms (264.6 pounds) and ending at 200 kilograms (440.9 pounds). The goal of the event was to lift and load all implements onto the platform while also making sure to set the fastest time possible.
Leaving nothing to chance, Aivars Šmaukstelis gave his final atoms of strength to win the last event of the competition. Consequently, Aivars needed just 22.79 seconds to load the final stone and thus take the overall victory as well.
Adam Roszkowski placed second on the Atlas Stones and officially claimed a silver medal overall as well. Brian Kichton rounded up the top three in the event but still missed out on the podium by just 0.5 points.
- Aivars Šmaukstelis — 6 in 22.79 seconds
- Adam Roszkowski — 6 in 24.78 seconds
- Brian Kichton — 6 in 26.57 seconds
- Ramin Farajnejad — 6 in 28.27 seconds
- Graham Hicks — 6 in 31.70 seconds
- Kevin Hazeleger — 6 in 41.73 seconds
- Jihad El Masri — 6 in 44.45 seconds
- Jesper Hansson — 6 in 58.53 seconds
- Kelin Mills — 6 in 78.81 seconds
- Sean Gillen — 5 in 24.93 seconds
- Péter Juhász — 5 in 25.91 seconds
- Andrea Invernizzi — Withdrew
Related: 2025 Strongman Champions League USA Results — Tristain Hoath Wins
Aivars Šmaukstelis has been one of the most active professional Strongman athletes in the past decade, as can be seen in his resume, which boasts 83 international appearances. He also has an impressive win rate, since he came out victorious in a total of 28 competitions. Aivars is currently 38 years old but is still recognized for his impressive speed and athleticism, which led him to the top of the podium at the 2025 Strongman Champions League Dubai.
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