I concede. Tom definitely deserved his 2nd place. I hadn’t realized his 3 wins and I guess I have a sweet spot for JF. I remember watching him compete against Poundstone in the late 2000’s. He’s been around.
I’m just super excited for 2021 strongman, implying COVID doesn’t take a steaming shit on it. Martins, Oleksii, Mateusz, Stoltman, Pritchett and JF are going to be so tightly packed now that Thor and Shaw are no longer making a gap.
My opinion may change when I see it, but 28 seconds is not a great time for 5 stone, not at WSM. There were a handful of guys in the 19-20 second range for 5 in the 2000’s. Phil Pfister, Travis Ortmayer, Svend, there were others. A guy that is specialized in Stones and setting records at them should be that fast - it should be a surprise to no one. The fact that the number 2 time is that slow is kind of surprising. This one was like Samuelson’s win in Morocco - half the field out with food poisoning from the hotel. But, that’s how Hugo Girard mad his first final. Who knows how this shakes up these guys who would not have made it to the final otherwise. It could really advance some of them.
What was the weight of the stones in the 2000’s? I don’t think any of them were over 400 lbs then, and now there are 2-3 stones over 400, IIRC. I guess no one got all 6 stones? (at least I thought it was 6)
Final stones in the early 2000’s were around 350lbs. I know later in the decade they were around 400lbs/180kg.
If 3 years ago you told me Licis and Novikov would each have a title and Mateusz would not then I’d have said you were crazy. Well done to the young man and goes to show what an excellent pathway the Arnold’s created for aspiring Strongmen.
Last year the biggest stone was 460. This year I believe it was 210 kg, which is 463. I don’t know all of the stone weights, but with there being 5 stones which start at 330 and end at 463, it’s a real good chance that the second stone is as heavy as the heaviest stone in the early 2000’s and likely 3 stones over 400 lbs. that’s a pretty big difference
In 2019, Lucis won the stone series with a 27.41 and Thor came second at just under 29 seconds. Thor was hurt and Martins isn’t known as a stone guy, but I would still say that Stoltman getting under 20s is unprecedented.
You have to compare apples to apples.
Licis’ 27 seconds beat Tom Stoltman’s 35+ seconds in the same competition.
Novikov is only 24, so he’s got tons of time to keep improving.
The surprising thing to me was that neither Big Loz nor Kalle Beck (2 pretty knowledgeable guys, and Loz obviously was a top strongman) picked Tom Stoltman for the podium.
Watching TS’s videos, I was impressed by how much stronger and bigger he got. But the Stoltmans’ method of training for the Hercules Hold was shite, and obviously not effective. I picked TS to win, but admittedly totally forgot about Novikov; plus my last memory of Novikov was the depleted version, who bombed out in the Arnolds CA qualifier.
Fun fact: Shaw genuinely believed his own hype -he was apparently the only competitor allowed to bring his own camera man to make his YT videos; guess WSM went along for the possibility of the whole 5X winner thing.
I know Luke Stoltman was for sure not happy about having to film his own stuff and prepare to compete at the same time.
@wsmwannabe At WSM the final (Number 5) was 365lbs, but being sandstone was a smaller diameter than the Concrete 365 (Slightly). Most high level contests in the US had a 385lb number 5. Some contests had a “Challenge Stone” over 400lbs. I had (Still have in storage) a 410lb (Approximated by measurement and math) stone for training. I never got it. But I also never tried it with tacky and I did break it almost high enough to lap without tacky. And I am not Pfister or Ortmayer by any stretch when it comes to Stones. Travis was doing stones that heavy in training at his storage unit, way heavier than most guys could do and way heavier than contest weight.
The thing that matters most is stone diameter. You can get a 400lb stone with a small diameter and at the same strength not be capable of a 365lb stone with a large diameter. I don’t know what they are using right now, but WSM has historically used McGlashen Stone replicas, which are carved sandstone. The contests other than WSM used concrete stones, and the stones at WSM have always been easier to get than the ones everywhere else.
I haven’t watched WSM in years. I was unaware that the weights had gotten that high in the Stones. When I stopped competing I stopped watching, or even paying attention, for years. It was only a matter of time, everything gets heavier. The guys get bigger and stronger and the weights get heavier. The first time Tire Flip appeared in WSM it was about a 600lb tire, and a lot of the guys struggled. That’s a joke weight now, maybe a medley weight for U105’s, if that.
Well, Shaw was aiming for number 5, so in a way he was successful I guess?
And I think that TS got a lot better this year. Unless they decided to use lighter stones this year than last, which almost never happens, that’s pretty much the only explanation. I don’t even think that’s controversial.
We’re all speculating blindly due to no official footage of the competition.
But again, apples to apples, Shaw got 39.48 last year, he got 28.55 this year. Definitely different, “easier” conditions somehow, but exactly what is unknowable at this point.
edit to add: Caron improved by 21 seconds vs last year, so…
It is crazy how much heavier things have gotten, as nutrition and training evolves, I guess people just get stronger. There is a local amateur show (it is a Strongman Corp platinum plus show) that has a 3 stone medley for U105 and the stones are 300, 320, 366 all to 52" I believe. Don’t get me wrong, that’s one of the heaviest stone medleys you’ll see at an amateur show, but it is still an amateur show.
Hell Strongman Corp amateur national championships had a heavier max distance husafeldt carry (U105 class) than the strongman corp 105k ASM had. Same stone (high temp brand husa) and same pickup height.
In the 80s, WSM used the McGlashen Stones (which are sandstone balls, carved by McGlashen) for at least a few competitions. For a while there were only 4 stones (the heaviest being 130 kg), and competitors struggled to finish all 4. A 5th stone at 140 kg was added in the mid 80s. JPS was the first IIRC to lift all 5.
Hard to say, I’d have to go digging. I know in 1991 or 192 several guys got all 5. Gregg Ernst was the first the year I’m thinking of, followed by a couple of others, I think Henning Thorsenand probably MVM.