The 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic took place on March 6-7 in Columbus, Ohio, marking one of the biggest and most important competitions of the year. Spanning across two days, it tasked nine athletes with performing a total of six events in order to determine who was worthy of the title. Well, a familiar place stood on top of the podium, as Mitchell Hooper won the competition for the fourth year in a row.
Day one of the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic saw multiple mind-blowing performances, but Austin Andrade and Mitchell Hooper are the ones who got off to the best start. The two men tied for first place after three events and built a seven-point lead ahead of the next best man.
It did not take long for Mitchell Hooper to take over the lead, as Austin Andrade finished second-to-last on the Stone Drag event. On the other hand, Martins Licis won the event and joined the battle for the podium.
The Austrian Oak witnessed one of the greatest overhead pressing performances in history, as Trey Mitchell locked out five reps in just 90 seconds. Hooper and Andrade tied, which meant that Hooper remained in first place going into the final event.
The 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic concluded with the Ramp Rage event, where Mitchell Hooper loaded two sandbags and stopped, knowing that he achieved enough to remain in first place overall. As a result, he took home the fourth consecutive title and remained unbeaten at the competition.
2026 Arnold Strongman Classic Results [Live Updates]
- Mitchell Hooper — 36 points
- Austin Andrade — 35 points
- Martins Licis — 34 points
- Trey Mitchell — 31.5 points
- Lucas Hatton — 31 points
- Bryce Johnson — 27.5 points
- Thomas Evans — 27 points
- Nick Guardione — 27 points
- Andrew Burton — 14 points
Day Two (March 7th) Event Recap
Event Four — The Stone Drag
Day two of the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic kicked off with the Stone Drag event. It was separated into two parts, with the first one being a 35-foot Dinnie Stone Carry. For reference, the Dinnie Stones weigh 414.5-lb (188-kg) and 318.5-lb (144.5-kg). They are traditionally carried simultaneously with one in each hand, but the athletes were allowed to ‘duck walk’ each stone separately.
Once they reached the 35-foot mark, the athletes had to load the two stones onto a sled. They then pulled the sled back to the starting point, covering another 35 feet of distance. That being said, the goal was to finish the event in the shortest time possible.
The fourth event of the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic produced some surprising results, proving to be quite an unpredictable challenge even for the strongest men in the world. Martins Licis ended up winning the event with a time of 1.31.23, but it took everything out of him. After finishing the event, Martins was held up by multiple people as he had trouble standing up and nearly passed out at one point.
Bryce Johnson is one of the biggest active Strongmen in the world and he definitely utilized his size on the Stone Drag. He was the only man apart from Martins that managed to finish the event but was a fraction of a second slower. His final time came out to 1:31.97, securing him second place and some valuable points.
With everyone else failing to reach the finish line, it came down to who covered the most distance. As a result, Nick Guardione finished in third place with a score of 26 feet. Mitchell Hooper finished in fourth place despite being the favorite to win the event. It seemed that his decision to carry both stones at once drained his forearm strength and energy, leaving him unable to reach the finish line. In an even bigger surprise, Austin Andrade finished second-to-last and dropped the overall lead.
- Martins Licis — 1:31.23
- Bryce Johnson — 1:31.97
- Nick Guardione — CAP+2 (26′ 0″)
- Mitchell Hooper — CAP+3 (24′ 9″)
- Thomas Evans — CAP+3 (22′ 11″)
- Andrew Burton — CAP+3 (22′ 7″)
- Lucas Hatton — CAP+4 (18′ 11″)
- Austin Andrade — CAP+5 (14′ 1″)
- Trey Mitchell — CAP+5 (12′ 8″)
Event Five — Austrian Oak
The penultimate event of the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic was the Austrian Oak, which was also one of the primary nicknames that Arnold Schwarzenegger went by. It was basically a Log Lift event with a specific implement that was crafted out of wood. It weighed 430 pounds (195 kilograms) and the primary goal of the event was to complete as many reps as possible within 90 seconds. On the other hand, the athletes also had the opportunity to lift a smaller Log weighing 385 pounds (175 kilograms), but even just one rep with the heavier log ranked higher than any number of reps with the lighter one.
Trey Mitchell put up one of the best Log Lift performances ever seen, seemingly reaching the limit of what is possible to do within the 90-second time cap. He achieved a total of five reps with the heavier Log and made his final rep look almost identical to his first one. So, it seemed that the time cap was the only limiting factor for him.
The 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic roster was filled with some incredible overhead pressers, and the results on the Austrian Oak definitely proved it. Trey had the most impressive performance, but it did not take away from Lucas Hatton and Thomas Evans, who tied for second place with four incredible reps.
Mitchell Hooper and Austin Andrade also tied with three reps. This worked best for Hooper, who maintained a four-point lead going into the final event of the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic.
- Trey Mitchell — 5 reps with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Lucas Hatton — 4 reps with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Thomas Evans — 4 reps with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Mitchell Hooper — 3 reps with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Austin Andrade — 3 reps with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Martins Licis — 2 reps with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Bryce Johnson — 1 rep with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Nick Guardione — 1 rep with 430-lb (195-kg)
- Andrew Burton — No Lift
Event Six — Ramp Rage
The final event used an inclined ramp that was seen as a part of the frame-carrying event in previous years. However, this year, the athletes were not carrying a heavy frame, but rather three massive sandbags. The weight of the sandbags was set to 300-lb (136-kg), 350-lb (158.8-kg), and 375-lb (170-kg). The aim of the event was to carry and load all three sandbags in the shortest time possible.
Mitchell Hooper had pretty much paved his way to the title even before the final event. So, he did not risk injuring himself and loaded just two sandbags to officially claim the title.
Nick Guardione closed out the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic with his best performance. He finished all three sandbags in just 38.79 seconds, which secured him the first place in the event. Andrew Burton placed second with a time of 44.18 seconds, while Martins Licis finished in third five seconds later.
- Nick Guardione — 0:38.79
- Andrew Burton — 0:44.18
- Martins Licis — 0:49.41
- Lucas Hatton — 0:49.65
- Trey Mitchell — 1:17.37
- Austin Andrade — 1:21.08
- Bryce Johnson — CAP+1 (29′ 7″)
- Thomas Evans — CAP+1 (26′ 10″)
- Mitchell Hooper — CAP+1 (0′ 0″)
Watch the day two livestream here:
Day One (March 6th) Event Recap
Event One — Elephant Bar Deadlift
The 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic kicked off with one of its most famous events, the Elephant Bar Deadlift. Utilizing a barbell much longer than the standard one, the event added another element of complexity, one that made it an exciting viewing experience for fans from all around the world. Each athlete had three attempts to establish a one-rep max.
Since Hafthor Bjornsson withdrew from the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic before it started, it was clear that Mitchell Hooper was the biggest favorite to take the max win in the deadlift event. He ended up with a very successful and energy-efficient performance, as his second attempt of 981 pounds (445 kilograms) secured him the victory.
Austin Andrade took second place in the deadlift event with a lift of 976 pounds (442.7 kilograms). Andrade attempted to pull over 1,000 pounds (453.6 kilograms) on his final attempt but ended up failing the lift despite a very promising start.
Although many predicted Trey Mitchell to make it into the top three in the deadlift event, ‘Big Tex’ picked too big of a jump for his second and third attempts, failing the lifts and ending up in fifth place. Bryce Johnson utilized the opportunity and rounded out the top three with an impressive 951-pound (431.4-kilogram) deadlift.
- Mitchell Hooper — 981 pounds
- Austin Andrade — 976 pounds
- Bryce Johnson — 951 pounds
- Lucas Hatton — 936 pounds
- Trey Mitchell — 926 pounds
- Thomas Evans — 911 pounds
- Martins Licis — 906 pounds
- Andrew Burton — 856 pounds
- Nick Guardione — 846 pounds
Event Two — Dumbbell Challenge
For the second event of the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic, the organizers prepared a series of dumbbells starting at 253 pounds (115 kilograms) and reaching well over 300 pounds (136 kilograms) at the top end. So, the athletes had the option to choose what weight they wanted to overhead press and how many repetitions they performed with the dumbbell. It is important to note that one rep with a heavier implement beat any number of reps with the lighter one.
Going into the event, Lucas Hatton was viewed as the biggest favorite to take the win, as he has a history of success in overhead pressing events. He started off by lifting the 300-pound (136-kilogram) dumbbell, but it seemed a bit more difficult than he hoped it would be. He decided to stop there, assuming that it would be enough to take the top spot. Hatton later revealed that he actually struggled because he felt pain in his obliques on the first attempt and did not want to cause unnecessary harm to himself.
Hatton did end up in first place, but there was a twist to it. Mitchell Hooper came out to the competition floor after Hatton and ended up lifting the 300-pound (136-kilogram) dumbbell as well. In turn, the two men tied for first place. Hooper stated that it was the first time in a while that he approached an implement not knowing if he was capable of lifting it. However, his rep was exceptionally smooth.
A similar battle occurred for third place, since Trey Mitchell and Austin Andrade ended up tying as well. Both of them achieved one repetition with the 280-pound (127-kilogram) dumbbell.
- Mitchell Hooper — 300 pounds (1 rep)
- Lucas Hatton — 300 pounds (1 rep)
- Austin Andrade — 280 pounds (1 rep)
- Trey Mitchell — 280 pounds (1 rep)
- Thomas Evans — 274 pounds (1 rep)
- Nick Guardione — 274 pounds (1 rep)
- Martins Licis — 253 pounds (1 rep)
- Bryce Johnson — No Lift
- Andrew Burton — No Lift
Event Three — Stone to Shoulder
For the final event of day one at the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic, the athletes had to lift a massive 410-pound (186-kilogram) Odd Haugen’s tombstone up to their shoulder for as many reps as possible. An interesting aspect of this event is that the implement is rumored to be set as Odd Haugen’s actual tombstone once he passes away.
Note: In order to avoid ties, a tiebreaker was put in place. For athletes who performed the same number of reps, the separation between them was based on tiebreaker points. Five points were awarded for lifting the stone up to the chest, while one point was given for getting the stone into the lap.
Austin Andrade and Martins Licis topped the leaderboards with three reps each. However, Andrade had the winning edge, having got the stone up to his lap while going for a fourth rep. On the other hand, Licis concluded his performance after completing the third rep and did thus not receive any tiebreaking points.
A similar situation happened in the battle for third place, where Bryce Johnson, Mitchell Hooper, and Trey Mitchell tied with two reps each. However, Johnson ranked above others, since he got the stone up to his chest once and up to his lap once more while attempting the third repetition.
- Austin Andrade — 3 reps (1)
- Martins Licis — 3 reps (0)
- Bryce Johnson — 2 reps (6)
- Mitchell Hooper — 2 reps (5)
- Trey Mitchell — 2 reps (0)
- Thomas Evans — 1 rep (0)
- Nick Guardione — No Lift
- Lucas Hatton — No Lift
- Andrew Burton — No Lift
Watch the day one livestream here:
Related: Tom Stoltman Withdraws From 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic
Although multiple athletes withdrew from the 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic in the leadup to the competition, the remaining athletes definitely put on a show and made it one of the most interesting editions in recent years. In the end, Hooper managed to defend his title once again, but faced some tremendous pressure along the way.
2026 Arnold Strongman Classic Related Content
- 2026 Arnold Strongman Classic Results Day One — Mitchell Hooper and Austin Andrade Lead
- 2026 Arnold Strongwoman Classic Results Day One — Olga Liashchuk and Angelica Jardine Lead
- Lucy Underdown Sets a 701-lb (318-kg) Elephant Bar Deadlift World Record at 2026 Arnold Strongwoman Classic
- Andrea Thompson Withdraws From 2026 Arnold Strongwoman Classic
Past Arnold Strongman Classic Champions
- 2025: Mitchell Hooper
- 2024: Mitchell Hooper
- 2023: Mitchell Hooper
- 2022: Martins Licis
- 2020: Hafthor Bjornsson
- 2019: Hafthor Bjornsson
- 2018: Hafthor Bjornsson
- 2017: Brian Shaw
- 2016: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2015: Brian Shaw
- 2014: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2013: Vytautas Lalas
- 2012: Michael Jenkins
- 2011: Brian Shaw
- 2010: Derek Poundstone
- 2009: Derek Poundstone
- 2008: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2007: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2006: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2005: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2004: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2003: Zydrunas Savickas
- 2002: Mark Henry
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