The 2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands (Sterkste Man van Nederland) competition took place on July 7th in Deventer, Netherlands. It featured the 12 greatest Dutch Strongmen, all of whom performed six difficult events. Consequently, Kevin Hazeleger turned out to have the highest number of points at the end of the day, meaning that he claimed the National title.
The Strongest Man in Netherlands competition has an extensive history that spans nearly five decades. So, many amazing athletes have made their appearance on stage throughout the years, but Kevin Hazeleger is the most recent champion.
Kevin Hazeleger secured his victory by winning four of the events, along with two additional second-place finishes. This allowed him to beat the previous 4x champion, Kelvin de Ruiter, despite his tremendous efforts to defend his title.
2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands Results
- Kevin Hazeleger — 69.5 points
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 64.5 points
- Max Gelder — 50 points
- Quincy Abbink — 46.5 points
- Sander van Zutphen — 43 points
- Angelo van der Pas — 39 points
- Wim van de Groep — 37.5 points
- Ruben van Kreij — 34.5 points
- Frank de Heus — 34.5 points
- Martijn de Weerd — 22.5 points
- Bart Marcelissen — 11.5 points
- George Sulaiman — 1 point
Related: 2024 Strongman Champions League World Record Breakers Results — Aivars Šmaukstelis Wins
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Event Recap
Event One — Truck Pull
The first event of the 2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands was the Truck Pull, where the athletes had to move a 16,000-kg (35,274-lb) vehicle for a distance of 25 meters. The time limit for the event was 60 seconds, while the goal was to finish the task as quickly as possible.
Kelvin de Ruiter opened up the competition in the most perfect way imaginable, winning the Truck Pull event with a time of 23.98 seconds. This made it clear that he was not willing to let go of his titles easily.
However, Kevin Hazeleger also had a tremendous performance, finishing the Truck Pull just 1.33 seconds behind Kelvin. This was important for him, as he had some even better events later on. So, staying near de Ruiter at the start was imperative if he wanted to win the competition.
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 23.98s
- Kevin Hazeleger — 25.31s
- Max Gelder — 25.87s
- Sander van Zutphen — 26.77s
- Quincy Abbink — 27.41s
- Angelo van der Pas — 27.49s
- Frank de Heus — 27.71s
- Wim van de Groep — 27.76s
- Bart Marcelissen — 28.7s
- Ruben van Kreij — 29.91s
- Martijn de Weerd — 31s
- George Sulaiman — 33.28s
Event Two — Log Press
The second event was a simple test of upper body strength. Specifically, the athletes had three attempts to establish their one rep max on the Log Press event. The time cap for each of the attempts was 60 seconds.
Angelo van der Pas first failed a 175-kilogram (385.8-pound) attempt, but redeemed himself just a few minutes later with the same weight. That turned out to be enough to get the maximum points. It is worth noting that Angelo tried to lift 200 kilograms (440.9 pounds) on his last attempt but was unsuccessful.
Kevin Hazeleger got the better of Kelvin de Ruiter on event two, having lifted a 170-kilogram (374.8-pound) Log. This was 10 kilograms (22 pounds) more than the former champion, Kelvin, managed to do.
- Angelo van der Pas — 175
- Kevin Hazeleger — 170
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 160
- Sander van Zutphen — 160
- Max Gelder — 150
- Frank de Heus — 150
- Quincy Abbink — 140
- Bart Marcelissen — 140
- Martijn de Weerd — 140
- Ruben van Kreij — 140
- Wim van de Groep — 130
- George Sulaiman — No lift
Event Three — Carry & Sled Drag Medley
The third event of the 2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands consisted of multiple parts. Firstly, the athletes had to carry and load three implements weighing 75-kg (165.3-lb), 100-kg (220.5-lb), and 140-kg (308.6-lb), each for a distance of 10 meters. Then, they performed a 315-kilogram (694.5-pound) Sled Drag for another 20 meters. The quickest time won.
The battle for the win came down to Kevin Hazeleger and Kelvin de Ruiter once again. The margin between them was just 1.5 seconds, but Hazeleger was on the winning side of it. His time of 39.34 seconds secured him his first event victory of the competition and started his streak.
- Kevin Hazeleger — 4 in 39.34s
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 4 in 40.9s
- Martijn de Weerd — 4 in 44.04s
- Quincy Abbink — 4 in 45.23s
- Wim van de Groep — 4 in 46.41s
- Ruben van Kreij — 4 in 47.49s
- Max Gelder — 4 in 48.56s
- Frank de Heus — 4 in 51.03s
- Sander van Zutphen — 4 in 52.06s
- Angelo van der Pas — 4 in 59.08s
- Bart Marcelissen — 1 implement (10 meters)
- George Sulaiman — Withdrew
Event Four — Husafell Carry
Although tired from the first three events, the athletes faced the infamously pain-inducing Husafell Carry for the fourth event of the competition. Namely, they had to pick up and carry a 180-kilogram (396.8-pound) stone for the longest distance possible. So, they were truly pushed to their limits.
Kevin Hazeleger found himself at the top of the leaderboards for the second consecutive event. He managed to cross 47.2 meters before dropping the stone, which was enough to beat everyone else.
Kelvin de Ruiter was just behind Hazeleger again, but, similar to the previous event, he had to settle for second place. He ended up with a result of 45.43 meters. The third place went to Max Gelder, who was the only other man to exceed the 40 meter mark.
- Kevin Hazeleger — 47.2m
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 45.43m
- Max Gelder — 43.65m
- Wim van de Groep — 35.6m
- Ruben van Kreij — 29.47m
- Sander van Zutphen — 25.55m
- Quincy Abbink — 23.72m
- Frank de Heus — 20.95m
- Angelo van der Pas — 20m
- Martijn de Weerd — 6.42m
- Bart Marcelissen — Withdrew
Event Five — Car Deadlift
The penultimate event of the 2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands competition was the Car Deadlift for Reps. It is one of the most aesthetically pleasing feats of strength, as it really puts into perspective the greatness of the participants. In this case, the athletes had to perform as many reps as possible of a 330-kilogram (727.5-pound) Car Deadlift.
Following the trend of the competition, Kevin Hazeleger and Kelvin de Ruiter went side-by-side on the deadlift as well. In fact, it couldn’t have been any closer, since both of them performed 5 repetitions. In turn, they tied for first place and had to share the points.
- Kevin Hazeleger — 5 reps
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 5 reps
- Ruben van Kreij — 4 reps
- Sander van Zutphen — 3 reps
- Quincy Abbink — 3 reps
- Angelo van der Pas — 3 reps
- Max Gelder — 2 reps
- Wim van de Groep — 2 reps
- Frank de Heus — 1 reps
- Martijn de Weerd — No Lift
Event Six — Atlas Stones
The final event of the 2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands featured a series of five heavy Atlas Stones ranging in weight from 120-kg (264.5-lb) to 200-kg (440.9-lb). The goal was to carry and load as many stones as possible and in the quickest time possible.
Kevin Hazeleger wrapped up his performance with his fourth consecutive event win. No athlete performed all five stones, but Kevin was the fastest to finish four of them. Specifically, he finished with a time of 25.65 seconds. In turn, he officially became the 2024 Strongest Man in Netherlands.
Max Gelder finished in second place, having loaded 4 stones in a time of 32.46 seconds. Moreover, Quincy Abbink took third place, needing just 34.27 seconds to load four stones.
- Kevin Hazeleger — 4 in 25.65s
- Max Gelder — 4 in 32.46
- Quincy Abbink — 4 in 34.27s
- Kelvin de Ruiter — 4 in 34.52s
- Wim van de Groep — 4 in 57.9s
- Frank de Heus — 3 in 72.93s
- Sander van Zutphen — 2 in 15.43s
- Angelo van der Pas — 2 in 15.46s
- Martijn de Weerd — 2 in 16.93s
- Ruben van Kreij — 2 in 37.2s
Check out Kevin Hazeleger’s reaction to winning the title:
Related: 2024 England’s Strongest Man Results — Kane Francis Wins
Kevin Hazeleger has only been doing Strongman at a higher level for the past three years, and his progress throughout the season is very impressive. He has already taken part in 12 International competitions and won one — 2023 Strongman Champions League Poland. In addition, this was Kevin’s fourth appearance at the Strongest Man in Netherlands competition and his first win. So, it is clear that he is currently stronger than ever, but even more can be expected from him in the future.