Know the full winners list of the World’s Strongest Man and most successful countries of the prestigious competition
The prize money for World’s Strongest Man has been lower than other high level Strongman contest but first place prize money has been increased from about 47,000 to 75,000 and total prize money is now over 200,000 which may make it the highest total money in all of Strongman. In the latest edition of World’s Strongest Man, defending champion Tom Stoltman successfully retained his title ahead of rivals like Martins Licis.
World’s Strongest Man Winners Full List By Year And Winner Prize Money
History of World’s Strongest Man and All Edition Details
Every year, the World’s Strongest Man is an international strongman tournament. It is televised in the United States throughout the summers and in the United Kingdom around the end of December each year, and is organised by American event management company IMG, a division of Endeavor. Competitors must finish in the top three at one of the four to eight Giants Live tournaments held each year to qualify.
SBD Apparel is the current event sponsor. Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com were among the previous sponsors.
The Strongman Super Series, the now-defunct IFSA Strongman World Championships, and the Strongman Champions League are some of the rival and parallel tournaments with which it is sometimes confused.
World’s Strongest Man Format
The qualifying format was altered starting in 2017. After five events, the leader is guaranteed a seat in the final, while the last place finisher is eliminated. A new event called Last Man Standing was added to decide the group’s second finalist.
An Atlas Stone is put in the center of an octagon, and contestants must lift and drop the stone over a 55-inch metal bar one at a time. They each have twenty seconds to complete the drop, and if one of them fails, he is ousted from the competition, and the next highest scoring competitor enters the competition. The tournament proceeds in a stepladder format, beginning with the fourth and fifth place finishers, until only one competitor remains; that competitor is named the event winner and earns a spot in the qualifying group final as the second place finisher.
The Atlas Stones event was used to determine the second finalist in the 2018 tournament. The competition’s three lowest scoring were eliminated, and the second and third place finishers faced off, with the winner progressing to the final.
Last Man Standing returned in 2019, however instead of having the remaining four participants, just the second and third place finishers faced off to determine the second finalist. This format is also used for the 2022 World’s Strongest Man event.
All-time Winners of World’s Strongest Man
Year | Winner | Runner-up | Third place | Host city | |
2022 | United Kingdom Tom Stoltman | United States Martins Licis | Ukraine Oleksii Novikov | United States Sacramento, California | |
2021 | United Kingdom Tom Stoltman | United States Brian Shaw | Canada Maxime Boudreault | United States Sacramento, California | |
2020 | Ukraine Oleksii Novikov | United Kingdom Tom Stoltman | Canada Jean-François Caron | United States Bradenton, Florida | |
2019 | United States Martins Licis | Poland Mateusz Kieliszkowski | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | United States Bradenton, Florida | |
2018 | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Poland Mateusz Kieliszkowski | United States Brian Shaw | Philippines Manila, Philippines | |
2017 | United Kingdom Eddie Hall | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | United States Brian Shaw | Botswana Gaborone, Botswana | |
2016 | United States Brian Shaw | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | United Kingdom Eddie Hall | Botswana Kasane, Botswana | |
2015 | United States Brian Shaw | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Malaysia Putrajaya, Malaysia | |
2014 | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | United States Brian Shaw | United States Los Angeles, California | |
2013 | United States Brian Shaw | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | China Sanya, China | |
2012 | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Lithuania Vytautas Lalas | Iceland Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | United States Los Angeles, California | |
2011 | United States Brian Shaw | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | United Kingdom Terry Hollands | United States Wingate, North Carolina | |
2010 | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | United States Brian Shaw | Russia Mikhail Koklyaev | South Africa Sun City, South Africa | |
2009 | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | United States Brian Shaw | Malta Valletta, Malta | |
2008 | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | United States Derek Poundstone | United States Dave Ostlund | United States Charleston, West Virginia | |
2007 | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | Poland Sebastian Wenta | United Kingdom Terry Hollands | United States Anaheim, California | |
2006 | United States Phil Pfister | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | United States Don Pope | China Sanya, China | |
2005 | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | United States Jesse Marunde | Canada Dominic Filiou | China Chengdu, China | |
2004 | Ukraine Vasyl Virastyuk | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Sweden Magnus Samuelsson | The Bahamas Nassau, Bahamas | |
2003 | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Ukraine Vasyl Virastyuk | Zambia Victoria Falls, Zambia | |
2002 | Poland Mariusz Pudzianowski | Lithuania Žydrūnas Savickas | Latvia Raimonds Bergmanis | Malaysia Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia | |
2001 | Norway Svend Karlsen | Sweden Magnus Samuelsson | Finland Janne Virtanen | Zambia Victoria Falls, Zambia | |
2000 | Finland Janne Virtanen | Norway Svend Karlsen | Sweden Magnus Samuelsson | South Africa Sun City, South Africa | |
1999 | Finland Jouko Ahola | Finland Janne Virtanen | Norway Svend Karlsen | Malta Valletta, Malta | |
1998 | Sweden Magnus Samuelsson | Finland Jouko Ahola | Netherlands Wout Zijlstra | Morocco Tangier, Morocco | |
1997 | Finland Jouko Ahola | Denmark Flemming Rasmussen | Sweden Magnus Samuelsson | United States Primm Valley Resort, Nevada | |
1996 | Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon | Finland Riku Kiri | South Africa Gerrit Badenhorst | Mauritius Port Louis, Mauritius | |
1995 | Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon | South Africa Gerrit Badenhorst | Finland Marko Varalahti | The Bahamas Nassau, Bahamas | |
1994 | Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon | Austria Manfred Hoeberl | Finland Riku Kiri | South Africa Sun City, South Africa | |
1993 | United Kingdom Gary Taylor | Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon | Finland Riku Kiri | France Orange, France | |
1992 | Netherlands Ted van der Parre | Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon | United Kingdom Jamie Reeves | Iceland Reykjavík, Iceland | |
1991 | Iceland Magnús Ver Magnússon | Denmark Henning Thorsen | United Kingdom Gary Taylor | Spain Tenerife, Canary Islands | |
1990 | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | United States O.D. Wilson | Finland Ilkka Nummisto | Finland Joensuu, Finland | |
1989 | United Kingdom Jamie Reeves | Netherlands Ab Wolders | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Spain San Sebastián, Spain | |
1988 | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | United States Bill Kazmaier | United Kingdom Jamie Reeves | Hungary Budapest, Hungary | |
1987 |
Not Held |
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1986 | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | United Kingdom Geoff Capes | Netherlands Ab Wolders | France Nice, France | |
1985 | United Kingdom Geoff Capes | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Netherlands Cees de Vreugd | Portugal Cascais, Portugal | |
1984 | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Netherlands Ab Wolders | United Kingdom Geoff Capes | Sweden Mora, Sweden | |
1983 | United Kingdom Geoff Capes | Iceland Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Netherlands Simon Wulfse | New Zealand Christchurch, New Zealand | |
1982 | United States Bill Kazmaier | Canada Tom Magee | United States John Gamble | United States Magic Mountain, California | |
1981 | United States Bill Kazmaier | United Kingdom Geoff Capes | United States Dave Waddington | United States Playboy Club, Vernon, New Jersey | |
1980 | United States Bill Kazmaier | Sweden Lars Hedlund | United Kingdom Geoff Capes | United States Playboy Club, Vernon, New Jersey | |
1979 | United States Don Reinhoudt | Sweden Lars Hedlund | United States Bill Kazmaier | United States Universal Studios, California | |
1978 | United States Bruce Wilhelm | United States Don Reinhoudt | Sweden Lars Hedlund | United States Universal Studios, California | |
1977 | United States Bruce Wilhelm | United States Bob Young | United States Ken Patera | United States Universal Studios, California |
World’s Strongest Man: Most Successful Countries
Despite their early struggle, United Kingdom participants have become prominent in this competition with Tom Stoltman winning back-to-back events and making it fifth title for his country. In the history of the World’s Strongest Men, the United States has produced twelve champions and nine runners-up. Iceland has also produced seven runner-up finishes and nine event winners.
Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
United States | 12 | 9 | 10 | 31 |
Iceland | 9 | 7 | 5 | 21 |
United Kingdom | 7 | 3 | 8 | 18 |
Poland | 5 | 5 | 0 | 10 |
Lithuania | 4 | 7 | 0 | 11 |
Finland | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
Ukraine | 2 | 0 | 2 | 4 |
Sweden | 1 | 3 | 4 | 8 |
Netherlands | 1 | 2 | 4 | 7 |
Norway | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
Denmark | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
Canada | 0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
South Africa | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
Austria | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
Latvia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
Russia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |