Some of the most impressive human specimens from across the world are currently battling it out to be named the World's Strongest Man 2022. A field of 30 athletes is competing in Sacramento, California, for the coveted title.
The competitors are facing some of the toughest tests of strength ever devised by man. They include tasks with pain-inducing names such as car walking, log lifting and wrecking ball holding, with this year's champion set to be crowned on Sunday (May 29) after the weekend's two-day finale.
It is the biggest and most prestigious event in the strength sports calendar, with Great Britain's Tom Stoltman looking to defend his title as reigning champion. The 27-year-old strongman hails from Invergordon, a port town in the Scottish Highlands.
READ MORE: How Eddie Hall won the World's Strongest Man and became a global star
Standing at 6ft 8in tall and weighing in at 397lb (180kg), he won the crown by seeing off four-time champion Brian Shaw, from the USA, in a thrilling head-to-head duel involving the Atlas stones. This particular strength test involves the muscle-bound athletes lifting five increasingly heavy stones onto a platform.
Stoltman became the first Scot to win the title, and the fifth Brit, since the competition's inception back in 1977. He is competing in this year's contest alongside his older brother Luke Stoltman, 37, who won Europe's Strongest Man last year and is himself a five-time Scotland's Strongest Man winner.
Tom finished fifth in the 2019 World's Strongest Man (WSM) event and was runner-up in 2020 despite winning three of the six events in the final. He is reported to be a fan of Rangers FC and, earlier this year, shared his experience on YouTube of living with autism, including how it led him to first join a gym.
Previous winners of the WSM crown include Eddie 'The Beast' Hall, 34, from Newcastle-under-Lyme, in the Potteries. Now retired, he fulfilled his dream of winning the title in 2017 when the competition was held in Botswana.
He went on to appear on Channel 5's Celebs in Solitary, where contestants tried to spend five days in solitary confinement. Earlier this year, he lost an exhibition boxing bout against former WSM rival and 2018 winner, Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson - aka Gregor "The Mountain" Clegane from Game of Thrones.
Perhaps the most famous Brit to be named World's Strongest Man was Lincolnshire's Geoff Capes. Now 72, the former Olympic shot putter was first crowned champion in 1983, winning the contest again and for the final time two years later in 1985. His exploits made him a household name.
This year, champion Tom Stoltman faces competition from the likes of 2020 winner and reigning European champ Oleksii Novikov, who was released by the Ukrainian military to take part in the contest. American Brian Shaw is once again one of the favourites for the title.
The strongman competition used to be a popular event on British TV in its heyday in the 1980s. Nowadays, however, UK viewers will have to wait until later this year to watch the contest on television.
Organised by American event management company IMG, the competition is not on TV and is not being live-streamed on the internet. Daily highlights are, however, being uploaded to YouTube and Facebook. Results can be tracked in real-time on the official WSM website.
It is not known when or where the competition will be broadcast on TV in the UK. But, last year, Channel 5 carried delayed coverage in December. Here is a full list of the past winners of the competition, the country they represented and the venue where the contest took place:
| Year | Winner | Country | Venue |
| 2021 | Tom Stoltman | UK | Sacramento, California, USA |
| 2020 | Oleksiy Novikov | Ukraine | Bradenton, Florida, USA |
| 2019 | Martins Licis | USA | Bradenton, Florida, USA |
| 2018 | Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson | Iceland | Manila, Philippines |
| 2017 | Eddie Hall | UK | Gaborone, Botswana |
| 2016 | Brian Shaw | USA | Kasane, Botswana |
| 2015 | Brian Shaw | USA | Putrajaya, Malaysia |
| 2014 | Žydrūnas Savickas | Lithuania | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| 2013 | Brian Shaw | USA | Sanya, China |
| 2012 | Žydrūnas Savickas | Lithuania | Los Angeles, California, USA |
| 2011 | Brian Shaw | USA | Wingate, North Carolina, USA |
| 2010 | Žydrūnas Savickas | Lithuania | Sun City, South Africa |
| 2009 | Žydrūnas Savickas | Lithuania | Valletta, Malta |
| 2008 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Poland | Charleston, West Virginia, USA |
| 2007 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Poland | Anaheim, California, USA |
| 2006 | Phil Pfister | USA | Sanya, China |
| 2005 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Poland | Chengdu, China |
| 2004 | Vasyl Virastyuk | Ukraine | Nassau, Bahamas |
| 2003 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Poland | Victoria Falls, Zambia |
| 2002 | Mariusz Pudzianowski | Poland | Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia |
| 2001 | Svend Karlsen | Norway | Victoria Falls, Zambia |
| 2000 | Janne Virtanen | Finland | Sun City, South Africa |
| 1999 | Jouko Ahola | Finland | Valletta, Malta |
| 1998 | Magnus Samuelsson | Sweden | Tangier, Morocco |
| 1997 | Jouko Ahola | Finland | Primm Valley Resort, Nevada, USA |
| 1996 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Iceland | Port Louis, Mauritius |
| 1995 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Iceland | Nassau, Bahamas |
| 1994 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Iceland | Sun City, South Africa |
| 1993 | Gary Taylor | UK | Orange, France |
| 1992 | Ted van der Parre | Holland | Reykjavík, Iceland |
| 1991 | Magnús Ver Magnússon | Iceland | Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain |
| 1990 | Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Iceland | Joensuu, Finland |
| 1989 | Jamie Reeves | UK | San Sebastián, Spain |
| 1988 | Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Iceland | Budapest, Hungary |
| 1987 | N/A | N/A | N/A |
| 1986 | Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Iceland | Nice, France |
| 1985 | Geoff Capes | UK | Cascais, Portugal |
| 1984 | Jón Páll Sigmarsson | Iceland | Mora, Sweden |
| 1983 | Geoff Capes | UK | Christchurch, New Zealand |
| 1982 | Bill Kazmaier | USA | Magic Mountain, California, USA |
| 1981 | Bill Kazmaier | USA | Magic Mountain, California, USA |
| 1980 | Bill Kazmaier | USA | Vernon, New Jersey |
| 1979 | Don Reinhoudt | USA | Universal Studios, California, USA |
| 1978 | Bruce Wilhelm | USA | Universal Studios, California, USA |
| 1977 | Bruce Wilhelm | USA | Universal Studios, California, USA |
