The 2026 World’s Strongest Man continued on April 24th in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, with Day Two of the qualifiers. So, 25 athletes had to perform two more events, the Truck Pull and Natural Stone Medley, before finding out who made it to the finals. It proved to be one of the most intense days ever seen at the WSM with epic battles and surprising results.
Day two of the 2026 World’s Strongest Man kicked off with some unfortunate news, revealing that Bryce Johnson and Kevin Hazeleger withdrew from the competition. This made Ondrej Fojtu’s and Martins Licis’s paths to the final much less complicated.
The biggest upset of the day happened in group two, where Tom Stoltman failed to qualify for the finals for the first time in eight years. Tom stood on the podium for the past six editions of the competition but unfortunately failed to make it into the top ten this year.
2026 World’s Strongest Man Results — Day Two Point Standings
Group One
- Rayno Nel — 21 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Nick Guardione — 17 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Luke Richardson — 14 points
- Ben Glasscock — 13 points
- Tristain Hoath — 10 points
Group Two
- Austin Andrade — 21 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Mathew Ragg — 15 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Jaco Schoonwinkel — 14 points
- Tom Stoltman — 14 points
- Levi Strong — 11 points
Group Three
- Mitchell Hooper — 22 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Eddie Williams —17 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Lucas Hatton — 15 points
- Matyáš Funiok — 13 points
- Paddy Haynes — 8 points
Group Four
- Ondrej Fojtu — 23 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Martins Licis — 19 points (Qualified for Finals)
- James Jeffers — 13 points
- Bryce Johnson — 10 points (Withdrew)
- Kevin Hazeleger — 4 points (Withdrew)
- Adam Bishop — Withdrew
Group Five
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 18 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Trey Mitchell — 18 points (Qualified for Finals)
- Andrew Flynn — 16.5 points
- Evan Singleton — 13 points
- Evans Nana — 8.5 points
Related: Luke Stoltman Withdraws From 2026 World’s and Europe’s Strongest Man After Breaking His Leg
Event Recap — Day Two Qualifiers
Event Four — Truck Pull
The penultimate event of the qualifying stage at the 2026 World’s Strongest Man qualifiers was the Truck Pull. As the name suggests, the athletes had to pull a 25,000-kilogram (55,115-pound) truck for a distance of 25 meters. The time limit was set to 60 seconds, but the goal was to finish in the shortest time possible. The truck pull is always very unpredictable, as the weight alone does not show how heavy it will be. Instead, the surface friction can make the event much more difficult by increasing the grip of the tires.
Group One
Rayno Nel’s speed in moving events led him to his second event win at the 2026 World’s Strongest Man. He was convincingly the quickest man in his group to reach the finish line while pulling a massive truck, achieving a time of 35.03 seconds. With this, he extended his lead and continued on his path to win his group for the second year in a row.
Nick Guardione placed second with a time of 37.69 seconds, beating the third-place finisher, Luke Richardson, by 1.22 seconds. Nick was sitting one point behind Richardson going into the event, which means that they ended up in a tie going into the final event.
- Rayno Nel — 35.03 seconds
- Nick Guardione — 37.69 seconds
- Luke Richardson — 38.91 seconds
- Ben Glasscock — 42.06 seconds
- Tristain Hoath — 43.00 seconds
Group Two
Austin Andrade got the truck moving quickly and only kept speeding up until he reached the finish line. He locked in a time of 34.69 seconds and won his third consecutive event, proving to be quite a challenger for the title. Most importantly, Austin secured his spot in the finals.
Levi Strong sat in fifth place at the end of day one, but his truck-pull performance pulled him back into the battle for second place. Strong finished the event in 34.84 seconds to place second. Tom Stoltman’s third-place finish in the fourth event and the fact that he beat Mathew Ragg put him in a very good position following a turbulent day one at the 2026 WSM.
- Austin Andrade — 34.69 seconds
- Levi Strong — 34.84 seconds
- Tom Stoltman — 37.59 seconds
- Jaco Schoonwinkel — 37.94 seconds
- Mathew Ragg — 38.69 seconds
Group Three
Following three consecutive second place finishes on day one, Mitchell Hooper finally managed to get the event win in the Truck Pull. He maintained a relentless pace, not letting the truck slow down at all. His time came out to 33.02 seconds, which was not only impressive within the boundaries of his group but also across all athletes in the competition.
The 20-year-old Matyáš Funiok’s performance in the second-to-last event of the qualifiers proved that he is one of the biggest prospects that the sport has ever seen. He reached the finish line in 35.22 seconds, which was enough for a second-place finish. Lucas Hatton placed third, finishing just 0.03 seconds after Funiok. This put him one point ahead of his direct rival for the second qualifying spot in the group, Eddie Williams.
- Mitchell Hooper — 33.02 seconds
- Matyáš Funiok — 35.22 seconds
- Lucas Hatton — 35.25 seconds
- Eddie Williams — 36.50 seconds
- Paddy Haynes — 38.34 seconds
Group Four
Unfortunately, both Bryce Johnson and Kevin Hazeleger were forced to withdraw from the 2026 World’s Strongest Man prior to the start of event three. Consequently, Fojtu and Licis practically secured their spots in the finals.
Both Licis and Fojtu had to continue pushing hard, as the results from the qualifiers largely impact their starting position / points in the finals. Martins Licis turned out to be the quicker of the two with a time of 36.09 seconds. In turn, Ondrej Fojtu had to settle for second, having crossed the line nearly two seconds after Licis. James Jeffers was just 0.34 seconds slower than Fojtu as well.
- Martins Licis — 36.09 seconds
- Ondrej Fojtu — 37.94 seconds
- James Jeffers — 38.28 seconds
- Bryce Johnson — Withdrew
- Kevin Hazeleger — Withdrew
Group Five
The Truck Pull made the standings in group five even more complicated, as three athletes were separated by just one point overall with one event to go. When it comes to the event, Andrew Flynn put up the best performance by far, reaching the finish line in just 35.78 seconds.
Pavlo Kordiyaka placed second with a time of 37.66 seconds, which was absolutely crucial for him since he didn’t allow Flynn to extend his lead too much. Trey Mitchell placed third, beating Evans Nana by just 0.13 seconds.
- Andrew Flynn — 35.78 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 37.66 seconds
- Trey Mitchell — 39.03 seconds
- Evans Nana — 39.16 seconds
- Evan Singleton — 39.97 seconds
Event Five — Natural Stone Medley
The Natural Stone Medley wrapped up the 2026 World’s Strongest Man qualifiers. It has troubled some athletes in the past, which went to show that it was an extremely difficult event. It consisted of four parts: the 158-kg (348.3-lb) Stone to Shoulder, the 177-kg (390.2-lb) Stone Carry, the 136-kg & 113-kg (299.8-lb & 249.1-lb) Webster Stone Walk, and finally, the 182-kg (401.2-lb) Stone Load. The athletes had two minutes to complete the event but aimed to do it quicker than that.
Group One
Rayno Nel left everyone in awe with his performance, completing all four parts of the event in just 43.70 seconds. That marked his third event win of the competition and one of the most incredible performances ever seen on the stones. As a result, Rayno won the first group and put himself in a very good position going into the finals.
Nick Guardione also put up one of the quickest times across all groups but was still almost half a minute slower than Rayno. With his effort, Guardione earned second place, both in the event and overall. As such, he qualified for the finals of the 2026 World’s Strongest Man. Tristain Hoath rounded out the top three in the event to cap off his performance.
- Rayno Nel — 4 in 43.70 s
- Nick Guardione — 4 in 71.38 s
- Tristain Hoath — 4 in 80.25 s
- Ben Glasscock — 4 in 107.82 s
- Luke Richardson — 2 + 6.10 m
Group Two
The Natural Stone Medley featured a stunning turn of events for the 2026 World’s Strongest Man, as Tom Stoltman failed to qualify for the finals of the competition. Jaco Schoonwinkel was the event winner, being the only man alongside Austin Andrade to reach the finish line. Jaco was 41 seconds quicker than Andrade.
Tom Stoltman placed third in the event, which was a respectable showing. However, he needed to gain two points on Mathew Ragg. Unfortunately for Stoltman, Ragg finished in fourth place right behind him.
- Jaco Schoonwinkel — 4 in 60.65 s
- Austin Andrade — 4 in 101.41 s
- Tom Stoltman — 3 in 50.16 s
- Mathew Ragg — 3 in 82.35 s
- Levi Strong — 3 in 100.73 s
Group Three
Mitchell Hooper won the Natural Stone Medley last year and repeated the feat at the 2026 World’s Strongest Man. He completed the event in 52.81 seconds and wrapped up an incredible performance in the qualifiers, with two wins and three second-place finishes.
Eddie Williams was just three seconds slower than Hooper and that was enough to grab the second qualifying spot for the finals. Matyáš Funiok also wrapped up an incredible debut at the WSM with a third-place finish and a time of 58.81 seconds.
- Mitchell Hooper — 4 in 52.81 s
- Eddie Williams — 4 in 55.03 s
- Matyáš Funiok — 4 in 58.81 s
- Paddy Haynes — 4 in 67.81 s
- Lucas Hatton — 1 in 27.50 s
Group Four
Group three was practically decided even before the final event due to the unfortunate withdrawals of Kevin Hazeleger and Bryce Johnson. However, the remaining athletes still performed to the best of their abilities. Ondrej Fojtu achieved his third event win of the qualifiers, finishing the event in 80.83 seconds.
All Martins Licis needed to do in order to mathematically qualify for the finals of the 2026 World’s Strongest Man was to lift the first stone. However, he proceeded to complete the entire event in 92.22 seconds. James Jeffers was unable to load the final stone.
- Ondrej Fojtu — 4 in 80.83 s
- Martins Licis — 4 in 92.22 s
- James Jeffers — 3 in 84.67 s
- Kevin Hazeleger — Withdrew
- Bryce Johnson — Withdrew
Group Five
The battle for the finals in the fifth group came down to the wire, with the Natural Stone Medley being the decider. Pavlo Kordiyaka won the event with a time of 67 seconds and thus claimed the first qualifying spot.
Although many wondered if Trey Mitchell would be able to get through the Webster Stone Walk, he managed to push through and take second place in both the event and the overall group standings as well. Andrew Flynn was 25 seconds slower than Trey, which brough his WSM campaign to a close.
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 4 in 67.00 s
- Trey Mitchell — 4 in 72.75 s
- Andrew Flynn — 4 in 97.66 s
- Evan Singleton — 1 + 13.40 m
- Evans Nana — No Lift
Related: Laurence ‘Big Loz’ Shahlaei Breaks Down Predictions for the 2026 World’s Strongest Man Qualifiers
Remaining WSM Schedule
Day Three — Saturday, April 25th
- 10:00 AM — Knaack® Monster Box® Flip & Carry
- 1:00 PM — Deadlift
- 3:00 PM — Titan’s Toss
Day Four — Sunday, April 26th
- 10:00 AM — Max Log
- 1:30 PM — Atlas Stones
- 2:45 PM — WSM Trophy Ceremony
Previous World’s Strongest Man Winners
- Bruce Wilhelm — 1977
- Bruce Wilhelm — 1978
- Don Reinhoudt — 1979
- Bill Kazmaier — 1980
- Bill Kazmaier — 1981
- Bill Kazmaier — 1982
- Geoff Capes — 1983
- Jon Pall Sigmarsson — 1984
- Geoff Capes — 1985
- Jon Pall Sigmarsson — 1986
- Not Held — 1987
- Jon Pall Sigmarsson — 1988
- Jamie Reeves — 1989
- Jon Pall Sigmarsson — 1990
- Magnus Ver Magnusson — 1991
- Ted van der Parre — 1992
- Gary Taylor — 1993
- Magnus Ver Magnusson — 1994
- Magnus Ver Magnusson — 1995
- Magnus Ver Magnusson — 1996
- Jouko Ahola — 1997
- Magnus Samuelsson — 1998
- Jouko Ahola — 1999
- Janne Virtanen — 2000
- Svend Karlsen — 2001
- Mariusz Pudzianowski — 2002
- Mariusz Pudzianowski — 2003
- Vasyl Virastyuk — 2004
- Mariusz Pudzianowski — 2005
- Phil Pfister — 2006
- Mariusz Pudzianowski — 2007
- Mariusz Pudzianowski — 2008
- Zydrunas Savickas — 2009
- Zydrunas Savickas — 2010
- Brian Shaw — 2011
- Zydrunas Savickas — 2012
- Brian Shaw — 2013
- Zydrunas Savickas — 2014
- Brian Shaw — 2015
- Brian Shaw — 2016
- Eddie Hall — 2017
- Hafthor Julius Bjornsson — 2018
- Martins Licis — 2019
- Oleksii Novikov — 2020
- Tom Stoltman — 2021
- Tom Stoltman — 2022
- Mitchell Hooper — 2023
- Tom Stoltman — 2024
- Rayno Nel — 2025
2026 WSM Related Content
- Mitchell Hooper Reclaims His Title at 2026 World’s Strongest Man
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Results
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Finals — Day Two Results
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Finals — Day One Results
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Results — Day One Qualifiers
- How to Watch 2026 World’s Strongest Man
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Withdrawals
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Finalists Revealed — Tom Stoltman Eliminated
Follow the 2026 World’s Strongest Man – event breakdowns, athlete interviews, full results, and all the latest news at our WSM hub: FitnessVolt.com/wsm
