The 2024 World’s Strongest Man is less than a month away, but some bad news just came out, as Martins Licis has officially withdrawn from the biggest Strongman competition of the season. The reason for this stems from Martins’ problem with his sciatica, which has been bothering him for some time now.
In a video that he posted on YouTube, Martins Licis sat down to talk about his future in Strongman. Firstly, he addressed his comeback to the sport, seeing that he had not competed at all throughout last year. So, this year, he hoped to get back to the highest level, but admitted that he wasn’t as careful as his younger self was in the past.
“This year, in January, when sciatica hit, I developed an ego and thought I could just push through it. Where, in the past, I would take every single step necessary in physical therapy to keep it at bay and also recover from it.”
The sciatica issue was also what prevented him from performing as he expected at the 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic. As per his statement, this served as a wake-up call for him to address the issue. So, he decided to withdraw from the 2024 World’s Strongest Man.
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The issues with the sciatica nerve often cause leg weakness, as was the case with Martins Licis. Luckily, the issues can be fixed through physical therapy in a relatively short time frame. So, Martins is planning to take part in the 2024 Rogue Invitational, which will take place at the back end of the year.
Martins Licis also revealed that he feels as though the end of his professional Strongman career is approaching. But, he assured his fans that his retirement would not yet take place. Instead, he plans to take part in a few more competitions, but he has some other interesting plans for the future as well.
As some know, Martins Licis took a break from Strongman last year in order to travel the world and experience strength traditions in various countries. Moreover, he plans on continuing to explore other countries while recovering from the sciatica injury, which include Pakistan, Greece, Georgia, and potentially even Tibet.
That being said, Martins Licis is not the only athlete to withdraw from the 2024 World’s Strongest Man, as Mateusz Kieliszkowski is also set to miss out because of an Achilles tendon injury. The replacements for neither of the athletes have been announced yet.
Watch Martins Licis’ full video here:
Related: Martins Licis and Justin Medeiros Undergo Heavy Deadlift Session
Over the course of his entire career, Martins Licis took part in 24 international competitions and won eight of them. He is best known for winning the 2019 World’s Strongest Man competition. So, his absence from the 2024 WSM will definitely be noticeable, as there are hardly any men who could fill his shoes. However, his physical and mental well-being are most important, and he needs some time to recover from the sciatica issue. Luckily, Martins should be fully prepared to compete at the 2024 Rogue Invitational, which is easily one of the best competitions of the year.
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