World’s Strongest Man 2021 Day One Results & Recap

2021 World’s Strongest Man results are in for Day 1 with complete breakdown of Qualifier

The 2021 World’s Strongest Man is underway and will be running from June 15th-20th in Sacramento, California. The competitors are attacking the events with gusto and the first day of competition featured three separate events, each that tested the mettle of the athletes. For the first time in seven years, the event returns to California and Generation Iron has been working with WSM’s IMG team to bring you direct coverage.

Not every group will be competing in all three events. Some of the groups were shuffled to keep the competitors on their toes. That meant the athletes needed to be ready for anything that was thrown their way.

World’s Strongest Man 2021 Day 1 Events

  • Loading Medley — All groups
  • Squat Lift — Groups One and Three
  • Deadlift — Groups Two, Four, and Five

With day one of the event coming to a close, here are the results and current standings.

World’s Strongest Man 2021 Leaderboard

Rank Name Points
Group 1
1 Brian Shaw 8.5
2 Maxime Boudreault 8
3 Aivars Smaukstelis 5.5
4 Gavin Bilton 4
5 Travis Ortmayer 4
Group 2
1 Tom Stoltman 9
2 Mark Felix 8
3 Evan Singleton 5
4 Johnny Hansson 5
5 Trey Mitchell 3
Group 3
1 JF Caron 9
2 Mikhail Shivlyakov 7
3 Robert Oberst 5
4 Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted 5
5 Luke Richardson 1
Group 4
1 Konstantine Janashia 9
2 Terry Hollands 7
3 Jerry Pritchett 6
4 Chris van der Linde 5
5 Adam Bishop 3
Group 5
1 Kevin Faires 8
2 Luke Stoltman 8
3 Bobby Thompson 7
4 Oleksii Novikov 5
5 Ervin Toots 2

World’s Strongest Man 2021 Day 1 Qualifier Results

During the first day qualifiers, each athlete competed in two events – a loading medley and then either a squat or deadlift event depending on their group. Groups were broken into five qualifier groups where each competitor earned points towards qualifying for the Finals.

World’s Strongest Man has confirmed that competitors Luke Richardson and Graham Hicks have pulled out of the competition. Hicks first announced dropping out via his Instagram on June 14. Ervin Toots from Estonia replaced Hicks – who also switched qualifier group spots with Gavin Bilton. This means that Bilton moved to Group One and Toots moved to Group Five.

World's Strongest Man 2021

Loading Medley

This event required each athlete to load two 225 pound barrels and a 275 pound anvil to a platform. They then raced to complete a 825 pound frame carry. The event itself appeared to be extremely brutal with some athletes unable to finish. This included last year’s World’s Strongest Man winner Oleksii Novikov.

Group 1
  1. Maxime Boudreault — 4 in 1:00.40
  2. Brian Shaw — 4 in 1:05.44
  3. Travis Ortmayer — 3 and 8.18 meters
  4. Gavin Bilton — 3 and 1.94 meters
  5. Aivars Smaukstelis — 3 in 0:36.38
Group 2
  1. Tom Stoltman — 4 in 0:46.69
  2. Mark Felix — 4 in 1:05.87
  3. Evan Singleton — 3 and 6.10 meters
  4. Johnny Hansson — 3 and 1.33 meters
  5. Trey Mitchell — 3 in 0:31.40

Group 3

  1. Robert Oberst — 3 and 11 meters
  2. JF Caron — 3 and 10.55 meters
  3. Mikhail Shivlyakov — 3 and 2.71 meters
  4. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — 3 in 0:39.81
  5. Luke Richardson — 3 in 0:17.99
Group 4
  1. Konstantine Janashia — 3 and 7.44 meters
  2. Terry Hollands — 3 and 5.31 meters
  3. Jerry Pritchett — 3 and 1.57 meters
  4. Chris van der Linde — 3 and 0.20 meters
  5. Adam Bishop — 3 in 0:40.91
Group 5
  1. Kevin Faires — 0:59.64
  2. Luke Stoltman — 1:10.98
  3. Bobby Thompson — 1:27.19
  4. Oleksii Novikov — 3 and 9.30 meters
  5. Ervin Toots — 3 and 2.93 meters

Squat Lift

In comparison the medley event, the squat lift was fairly simple. Two groups of the bunch has to lift this 700 pound squat for max reps.

Group 1
  1. Brian Shaw — 10 reps
  2. Aivars Smaukstelis — 10 reps
  3. Maxime Boudreault — six reps
  4. Gavin Bilton — five reps
  5. Travis Ortmayer — three reps
Group 3
  1. JF Caron — 11 reps
  2. Mikhail Shivlyakov — 10 reps
  3. Eythor Ingolfsson Melsted — seven reps
  4. Robert Oberst — zero reps
  5. Luke Richardson — Withdrew due to injury

Deadlift

Group 2
  1. Tom Stoltman — eight reps
  2. Mark Felix — eight reps
  3. Trey Mitchell — eight reps
  4. Evan Singleton — five reps
  5. Johnny Hansson — three reps
Group 4
  1. Adam Bishop — nine reps
  2. Konstantine Janashia — eight reps
  3. Terry Hollands — six reps (Terry Hollands suffered an as of now undisclosed injury)
  4. Jerry Pritchett — five reps
  5. Chris van der Linde — four reps
Group 5
  1. Bobby Thompson — nine reps
  2. Kevin Faires — six reps
  3. Oleksii Novikov — six reps
  4. Luke Stoltman — six reps
  5. Ervin Toots — three reps

More to come for 2021 The World’s Strongest Man

With two more days of qualifying rounds before the two-day finals, we can expect a lot more exciting events to take place.

Day 2 – Qualifier Day 2: Wednesday, June 16th

  • FINGAL’S FINGERS
  • TRAIN PULL

Day 3 – Qualifier Day 3: Thursday, June 17th

  • OVERHEAD MEDLEY
  • PICKAXE HOLD
  • STONE OFF

Day 4 (Finals Day 1) – Finals Day 1: Saturday, June 19th

  • GIANT’S MEDLEY
  • TITAN’S TURNTABLE
  • REIGN KEG TOSS

Day 4 (Finals Day 2) – Finals Day 2: Sunday, June 20th

  • LOG LIFT
  • KNAACK DEADLIFT
  • ATLAS STONES
  • 2021 SBD WSM AWARDS

Continue to tune in to our coverage of the 2021 World’s Strongest Man event for more updates. For more news, follow Generation Iron on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.


Managing Editor at Generation Iron, Jonathan Salmon is a writer, martial arts instructor, and geek culture enthusiast. Check out his YouTube, Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, and Sound Cloud for in-depth MMA analysis.

*Photo credit:Joe Martinez / World’s Strongest Man

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