The finals are officially underway at the 2026 World’s Strongest Man on April 25th in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. Ten of the best performers from the qualifying stage are taking on three events on the first day of finals, hoping to get involved in the title race as the competition nears its end.
Mitchell Hooper heads into the finals with 10 points, which he earned based on his fantastic performance in the qualifiers. This gives him a slight advantage over Rayno Nel, who sits one point behind. However, Austin Andrade and others are also looking to battle for the top spot.
2026 World’s Strongest Man Results — Finals Day One [Live Updates]
- Rayno Nel — 29 points
- Mitchell Hooper — 27.5 points
- Eddie Williams — 21 points
- Ondrej Fojtu — 16 points
- Mathew Ragg — 15.5 points
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 13 points
- Martins Licis — 13 points
- Austin Andrade — 12.5 points
- Trey Mitchell — 12 points
- Nick Guardione — 4.5 points
Related: Luke Stoltman Withdraws From 2026 World’s and Europe’s Strongest Man After Breaking His Leg
Event One — Flip & Carry
The 2026 World’s Strongest Man finals kicked off with a two-part medley, which consisted of a 520-kilogram (1,146.4-pound) box flip and a 454-kilogram (1,000.9-pound) Yoke Carry. Athletes had to flip the box four times, while the Yoke carry distance was set to 20 meters. Both implements were exceptionally heavy, which emphasized the need for brute strength, speed, and endurance. It was a timed event, meaning that the athletes raced to cross the finish line first.
Mitchell Hooper was widely recognized as the unofficial ‘King of the Yoke’ due to his performances from previous years, but Rayno Nel proved to be a worthy challenger. The two performed the event side-by-side and locked in the quickest times by far. Moreover, it was unclear who won the event until the official times were announced. In the end, Nel managed to beat Hooper by 0.14 seconds, starting off his WSM finals appearance in the best way possible.
The battle for third place was also incredibly tight, as Pavlo Kordiyaka nad Eddie Williams finished within fractions of a second as well. The Ukrainian athlete prevailed, finishing with a time of 33.80 seconds and beating Eddie’s time of 34.74 seconds. The rest of the field was not far behind, showing just how incredibly stacked the lineup is this year.
- Rayno Nel — 27.30 seconds
- Mitchell Hooper — 27.44 seconds
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — 33.80 seconds
- Eddie Williams — 34.74 seconds
- Ondrej Fojtu — 36.13 seconds
- Mathew Ragg — 37.24 seconds
- Martins Licis — 39.31 seconds
- Trey Mitchell — 40.43 seconds
- Austin Andrade — 40.57 seconds
- Nick Guardione — 43.86 seconds
Event Two — Deadlift
The qualifiers featured the squat, but the finals presented the deadlift. Specifically, the athletes had a choice between two weights, 360 kilograms (793.7 pounds) and 400 kilograms (881.8 pounds). Whichever they chose, the goal was the same: to perform as many repetitions as possible. However, the event was a ‘weight trumps reps’ format, meaning that just one rep with the heavier deadlift ranked higher than any number of reps with the lighter one.
Rayno Nel continued his winning streak, taking 20 points across the first two events of the 2026 World’s Strongest Man finals. Nel beat some of the greatest deadlifters in the world, having achieved a total of five reps within 75 seconds. He moved very quickly from the start and stopped at five reps once he realized that it was enough to take the win.
Mitchell Hooper placed second once again, having locked out one rep less than Rayno. He then went on to perform another rep on the 360-kilogram (793.7-pound) bar, with which he tied Mathew Ragg for second place. The Canadian Strongman tried to achieve another rep with the lighter bar to beat Ragg but was unsuccessful in doing so.
- Rayno Nel — 5 reps with 400-kg
- Mitchell Hooper — 4 reps with 400-kg + 1 rep with 360-kg
- Mathew Ragg — 4 reps with 400-kg + 1 rep with 360-kg
- Eddie Williams — 3 reps with 400-kg + 1 rep with 360-kg
- Martins Licis — 3 reps with 400-kg
- Trey Mitchell — 3 reps with 400-kg
- Ondrej Fojtu — 2 reps with 400-kg + 1 rep with 360-kg
- Austin Andrade — 1 rep with 400-kg
- Nick Guardione — 1 rep with 400-kg
- Pavlo Kordiyaka — No Lift
Event Three — Titan’s Toss
The Titan’s Toss is a repeat event from last year’s WSM and is a very unique variation of the implement toss. Namely, the athletes will toss ten 14-kilogram (30.9-pound) implements over a 3.65-meter-high beam. However, while the height and weight remain the same, the distance of the throws starts at 7 meters and increases up to 12 meters on the final toss. Moreover, if the athletes fail a toss, they can’t re-attempt it, meaning that technique, trajectory, and composure are absolutely crucial elements of the event.
Titan’s Toss is scheduled to start at 03:00 PM local time.
Related: 2026 Europe’s Strongest Man Results — Ondřej Fojtů Wins
Remaining WSM Schedule
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
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Results
- 2026 World’s Strongest Man Results — Day Two Qualifiers
- 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
