WSM events

For more than three decades, strongmen on earth have competed for the toughest and most challenging events of the World’s Strongest Man competitions. These events include lifting, pulling and carrying heavy weights.

One event is the carrying of loads weighing 130 kilos and dragging anchors and chains from a starting line to a certain distance. Barrels are also carried and dropped on a given frame. Cars, lorries, planes and logs are lifted. Each event is given a time limit. Athletes also squat under a bar and then lift a weight of 235 kilos/518 lbs up to a full standing position. Whenever they return the bar to the erect position, 320 kilos/705 lbs are added. Competitors also carry harnesses tied with freezers on each side. They take the load through an obstacle course in 60 seconds. Athletes grip handles and hold back two pillars in the “Pillars of Hercules” competition. There is no time limit in this contest; it stops only when the athlete can no longer hold the pillars in their correct positions.

In another event, athletes also lift five stones of varied weights and place them on platforms that are on five pillars. In the “Africa Stone” event, the athlete wraps his hands around a stone and then carries it as far as he can before he drops it.

In most of the events, winners are determined by the number of times they have successfully completed the lifts, pulls, and carries during a stipulated time frame. The man who endures and finishes at the top takes the title as the World’s Strongest Man.