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Nickname | The Moose [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Born | Midhurst, Ontario, Canada | 29 September 1995|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Weight | 320 lb (145 kg) [1] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Spouse | Ashley Hooper [2] | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Sport | Strongman | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Mitchell Hooper (born 29 September 1995) is a Canadian strongman and kinesiologist. He secured 1st place at the 2023 World's Strongest Man competition in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, where he also became the first Canadian to win the title of World's Strongest Man. [3] [4] He is also the winner of both the 2023 and 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic events. [5] [6] In 2023, he became the fourth person to win both the World’s Strongest Man and Arnold Strongman Classic competitions in the same year.
Hooper has a degree in human kinetics from the University of Guelph and a masters in clinical exercise physiology from the University of Sydney. [7] [1] He now works as a physical therapist, specialising in strength and conditioning. He worked as a coach for the KW Titans and now runs his own kinesiology clinic in Barrie. [2]
Hooper rose to prominence in the 2022 World's Strongest Man contest, where he won his qualifying group, beating veteran strongman Brian Shaw. He finished in 8th place in his first WSM Final, in what was also his first ever full international strongman contest. [8]
Following this success, he was coached by former competitor Laurence Shahlaei and placed third in both the 2022 Shaw Classic and Rogue Invitational. [9] [10] He also won two shows in 2022: the Giants Live World Tour Finals and the Arnold UK.
In 2023, Hooper won the Arnold Strongman Classic and the 2023 World's Strongest Man competition, defeating former champions Brian Shaw, Oleksii Novikov and reigning 2-time World's Strongest Man Tom Stoltman. [5] [11] He is the fourth person to win these two premier events in the same year, following Brian Shaw, Žydrūnas Savickas and Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. Hooper continued his podium streak throughout the summer of 2023 and finished 2nd to Brian Shaw in the 2023 Shaw Classic. [12] He followed that up with a 3rd place in the Giants Live Tour Finals and a week later he won the 2023 Rogue Invitational. [13] [14]
In 2024, Hooper won the Arnold Strongman Classic for back to back titles. He scored 52 points from a possible 55 and won 3 events. 2 weeks later, he won the Arnold UK in Birmingham. At the 2024 World's Strongest Man in May, Hooper finished 2nd to Tom Stoltman
The World's Strongest Man is an international strongman competition held every year. Organized by American event management company IMG, a subsidiary of Endeavor, it is broadcast in the US during summers and in the UK around the end of December each year. Competitors qualify based on placing in the top three at the four to eight Giants Live events each year. The current event sponsor is SBD Apparel. Previous sponsors include Tachi Palace, Coregenx, Commerce Hotel and Casino, DAF Trucks, Tonka, MET-Rx, and PartyPoker.com.
A strongman is someone who exhibits strength through strength athletics. Strength athletics, also known as strongman competitions, are composed of a variety of events in which competitors have to move the highest weights possible, the winner being the one having the highest tally across all events. In the 19th century, the term strongman referred to an exhibitor of strength or similar circus performers who performed feats of strength.
Giants Live was created in 2009 as the official Tour that qualifies strongmen to compete in the annual World's Strongest Man contest. At each Grand Prix, up to twelve international strongmen come together and compete over six events. The top three at each contest will receive an invitation to compete at the World's Strongest Man contest for that same year.
Laurence Cristiaan David Shahlaei is an English YouTuber, strength sports commentator, analyst, coach, and a retired strongman and powerlifting competitor. He won the 2016 Europe's Strongest Man competition. He is also the winner of England's Strongest Man (2009) and Britain's Strongest Man local strongman competitions.
Brian Shaw is an American retired professional strongman who is widely regarded as one of the greatest strength athletes of all-time. He won the 2011, 2013, 2015, and 2016 World's Strongest Man, making him one of only five men to win the World’s Strongest Man four times or more. In 2011, Shaw became the first man to win the Arnold Strongman Classic and the World's Strongest Man competitions in the same calendar year, a feat he replicated in 2015. With 27 international competition wins, he is the fourth most decorated strongman in history behind Lithuania's Žydrūnas Savickas, Poland's Mariusz Pudzianowski and Iceland's Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson.
Jean-François 'JF' Caron is a Canadian strongman and powerlifter from Les Hauteurs, Quebec, Canada. Having competed in 73 International strongman competitions and winning 10 of them, Caron is among the 20 most decorated strongmen of all time.
Mateusz Kieliszkowski is a Polish strongman competitor, notable for winning the 2019 World's Ultimate Strongman competition. He is also a two-time World's Strongest Man runner-up, three-time Arnold Strongman Classic runner-up, one time Europe's Strongest Man runner-up, and five-times Poland's Strongest Man.
Martins Licis is a Latvian-American professional strongman, notable for winning 2019 World's Strongest Man, 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic, and 2021 Rogue Invitational strongman championships.
Tom Ryan Stoltman is a British professional strongman competitor, from Invergordon, Scotland. He is a three times winner of the World's Strongest Man in 2021, 2022, and 2024. He also won the national title Britain's Strongest Man on the same years. Nicknamed "The Albatross" due to his sizeable arm span, Stoltman is known for his prowess with the Atlas Stones. In 2020, Stoltman broke the world record for the 5 Atlas Stones 100–180 kilograms (220–400 lb) in just 16.01 seconds; he also holds the world record for the heaviest Atlas stone ever lifted over a 1.22 metres (4.0 ft) bar at 286 kilograms (631 lb).
Luke Bernard Stoltman is a Scottish professional strongman competitor, who won the Scotland’s Strongest Man competition five times and Europe’s Strongest Man competition two times in 2021 and 2024. He has also participated in the World's Strongest Man competition eight times where he reached the finals four times. Renowned for his static shoulder strength, Luke currently holds the British Log Press record. Along with younger brother, Tom Stoltman, the two are widely regarded as the strongest brothers in history and are the only ones to both qualify for the World’s Strongest Man finals; a feat they have managed in 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024.
Adam Bishop is a professional strongman and two-time winner of the Britain's Strongest Man competition. Bishop refers to himself in the media as "one of the little guys" in the sport, despite weighing over 300lbs. Bishop has also competed in rugby, where he played as a winger, and in skeleton bobsleigh.
Oleksii Novikov is a Ukrainian professional strongman. He won the 2020 World's Strongest Man competition, becoming the second Ukrainian to win the title since Vasyl Virastyuk in 2004, and at 24 years, 278 days, he is also the second youngest winner in history, being only seven days elder than Jón Páll Sigmarsson in 1984. He is also a two time World's Ultimate Strongman, Rogue Invitational champion and Europe’s Strongest Man.
The Shaw Classic is a strongman competition run and hosted by four-time World's Strongest Man Brian Shaw, who won the inaugural competition in 2020. The second edition of the contest had 16 athletes with backgrounds from Europe and North America. The total prize pool in 2020 was $53,900. In 2021 the prize pool increased to $100,000 and in 2022 the prize pool increased to $150,000. In 2023 the prize pool was $251,932.
The 2022 Arnold Strongman Classic was a strongman contest that took place in Ohio, Columbus from 4–5 March 2022 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center. The Arnold Strongman Classic is seen as one of the biggest and most prestigious strongmen events on the circuit. This year marked the return of the competition after the 2021 edition was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The 2022 World's Strongest Man was the 45th edition of the World's Strongest Man competition, an event that took place in Sacramento, California from May 24 to May 29, 2022. The contest was won by Tom Stoltman with this being his second consecutive title. Joining him on the podium were the 2019 and 2020 World's Strongest Man winners, Martins Licis and Oleksii Novikov respectively, who tied on points. In the event of a draw, the higher placing athlete in the last event, in this case Licis in the Atlas Stones, wins the tie-breaker.
Charles "Trey" Mitchell III is a professional strongman from Lumberton, Texas. Standing 6'4" tall and known by his nickname "Big Tex", he is most notable for winning the Shaw Classic strongman championship two consecutive times in 2021 and 2022.
The 2023 Arnold Strongman Classic was the 21st Arnold Strongman Classic competition which took place in Ohio, Columbus from 3-4 March 2023 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center
The 2023 Shaw Classic was the 4th edition of the Shaw Classic strongman competition which took place in Loveland, Colorado from 19 to 20 August 2023 at the Budweiser Events Center. The competition included separate professional men's, open men's and open women's categories. This would also be the last event of four times World's Strongest Man and organiser of the competition Brian Shaw's career. The winner of the professional men's category was given the title of The Strongest Man on Earth after Brian acquired the trademark for the phrase from Paul Ohl, the organiser of the now defunct Fortissimus strongman competition.
The 2024 Arnold Strongman Classic was the 22nd Arnold Strongman Classic competition which took place in Ohio, Columbus from 1–2 March 2024 at the Greater Columbus Convention Center.
The 2024 World's Strongest Man is the 47th World's Strongest Man competition taking place in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina from May 1 to 5.