MVM Strongman Classic 2024

Athletes with awards post-competition

The 4th Magnus Ver Magnusson Strongman Classic has come and gone! Boasting one of the strongest line ups this show has seen, we saw stellar performances across all events, new world records, and an exciting finish to top it all off!

This years line up included 15 athletes - 2 previous winners, 6 WSM competitors, 10 different countries represented, 2 returns from injury, and more! The line up athletes was:

• Mateusz Kieliszkowski - Poland

• Tristain Hoath - Canada

• Andrew Burton - United States

• Wes Derwinsky - Canada

• Tiano Fa'apoi - New Zealand

• Audrius Jokubaitis - Lithuania

• Shane Flowers - England

• Evans Nana - Ghana

• Aivars Smaukstelis - Latvia

• Nika Lekaidze - Georgia

• Rongo Keene - New Zealand

• Didzis Zarins - Latvia

• Kristjan Sindri Nielsson - Iceland

• Tyler Sigurdson - Canada

• Palmi Gudfinnsson - Iceland

Day 1 took place at Hotel Husafell and at the sheeps pen, home of the Husafell Stone. The first event of the day, and competition, saw a new world record from Mateusz Kieliszkowski on the stone press. Kieliszkowski set the record with a 151 kg stone press overhead! After missing on his first attempt, he made it on the second attempt. This gave him the lead going into the second event. The Hercules Hold brought Andrew Burton to the forefront as he took the event win with a time of 59.01 seconds, just over 12 seconds longer than 2nd place, and with an injured finger from the stone press. For the Husafell Stone Carry, we saw a new record set by Vilius Jokuzys - who was guest lifting on this event- with a distance of 86 meters. In competition, Mateusz took another event win with a distance of 68 meters.

Day 2 saw the competition at Nautholsvik Geothermal Beach, where locals were enjoying swims in the sea and relaxing in the geothermal pool while watching the competition. The first event of the day was the Super Yoke into Farmers Carry, seeing Wes Derwinksy with an event win with a time of 33.09 seconds. Then came the sandbag toss over the wall, seeing Shane Flowers take the win with a time of 11.81 seconds to finish all six bags. The final event of the day was the Stone Medley - shoulder and loading two stones and then loading 3 more over a bar. This proved to be difficult for many as only two athletes finished all five stones. This event brought Kieliszkowski his 3rd event win as he completed all stones in 30.39 seconds - a full 19 seconds faster than second place.

Day 3 brought the competition to Fisherman's Village for the final day. This was the windiest day of competition, bringing the temperatures down. The day kicked off with the hand over hand hoist - again a struggle as we saw athletes zero, some get just a couple meters, and only one athlete finish. This was the 2nd event win for Andrew Burton, who finished in 30.2 seconds, showing his firefighter training does indeed carry over to a strongman event! The penultimate event of the competition was the rising bar 14 inch deadlift. This saw a six-way tie for first place with Zarins, Nana, Flowers, Fa'apoi, Derwinsky, and Hoath all completing 380 kg. This left 2.5 points between first and second place going into the last event! The log lift medley proved to be exciting with six athletes completing all four logs - the most that has ever completed the log medley at the MVM Classic. With a time of 29.56 seconds, Mateusz won the event and the overall competition!

Giving a rare smile to show his happiness, Mateusz raised his trophy - his first international win since 2019! Tristain Hoath came in 2nd place with Andrew Burton in 3rd place rounding out the podium!

As always, the goal to make the MVM Classic better each year was accomplished and we look forward to seeing what 2025 holds in store for the MVM Strongman Classic!