2015 World's Strongest Man

2015 World's Strongest Man

Host city	Putrajaya, Malaysia
Winner	Brian Shaw[1]
Nations participating	14
Athletes participating	30
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The 2015 World's Strongest Man was the 38th edition of the World's Strongest Man competition. The event was held in Malaysia,^[2] for the first time since 2002. The competition was held in spring for the second year in a row. The qualifying heats were held from April 19-22 and the finals on April 25 & 26. Unlike previous years placings for the final event in the heats, the atlas stones were awarded double points. The top two from each heat qualified.

Heats

Name	Nationality	Pts
Brian Shaw[2]		36.5
Jean-François Caron		33
Martin Forsmark		26.5
Robert Oberst		20.5
Adam Bishop		16
Mateusz Baron		10.5 (Inj)

Heat 1 started with a surprise in the Loading Race, as JF Caron won with a time of 38.77, beating two-time champion Brian Shaw's score of 43.19 seconds. Mateusz Baron took third place. In the Deadlift, Caron was impressive again, managing 7 reps, but Shaw edged him out by lifting the 370 kg car 8 times for the victory. The Circus Barbell Press was next, and Adam Bishop almost injured himself by dropping the bar on his knees. He was fine, but Mateusz Baron was not, a stress fracture in his foot ending his contest. Shaw tied with compatriot Robert Oberst for the win in that event, with 4 reps each. At this point, Shaw led the group with 16.5 points, followed by Caron with 14 and Forsmark with 9 and a half.

The Kettlebell Throw saw an impressive performance by rookie Adam Bishop, who cleared the bar 4 times in 28.41 seconds to open the scoring. Oberst, taking his time between each throw, managed to clear the fifth bell in 52.55 to take the lead. Caron was up next, and he only got 4 in 28.43, heartbreakingly close to Bishop. However, Brian Shaw was the man again, getting all 7 bells over the bar in 42.07 for an easy victory. In the Bus Pull, Oberst failed to impress, completing only 18.38 metres. Martin Forsmark was solid, almost completing the course but settling for a distance of 24.22 metres. JF Caron tried to beat that, but fell just short: 23.64 metres for him. Brian Shaw went last, and was yet again the only man to complete the event, pulling the bus 25 metres in a time of 46.48 seconds. After five of six events, the man from Colorado had 28.5 points, Caron was on 21, while Forsmark and Oberst were tied on 16 and a half points.

Heading into the Atlas Stones, Brian Shaw only had to get a stone up to qualify for the final, but Caron had to guarantee a top-three finish in the event to make it through. While Shaw only lifted three stones to save energy, Forsmark tried hard and got 4 stones in 36.72 seconds. The pressure was now on the French-Canadian as the rain started to fall, but Caron delivered, lifting 4 stones in 30.99 while Oberst struggled and only got two up.

Name	Nationality	Pts
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson		38
Dimitar Savatinov		31
Rafal Kobylarz		26
Josh Thigpen		19
Akos Nagy		17
Graham Hicks		8(Inj)

Name	Nationality	Pts
Žydrūnas Savickas		40
Mikhail Shivlyakov		28
Nick Best		24
David Nystrom		19
Benedikt Magnússon		9 (Inj)
Laurence Shahlaei		8 (Inj)

Name	Nationality	Pts
Mark Felix		31
Jerry Pritchett		27.5
Dainis Zageris		25.5
Krzysztof Radzikowski		25
Alexander Lysenko		21
Gerhard Van Staden		15

Name	Nationality	Pts
Mike Burke		37
Eddie Hall		34
Matjaž Belšak		27.5
Grzegorz Szymanski		26
Mike Caruso		12.5
Ole Martin Hanson		9

Final

Name	Nationality	Pts
Brian Shaw		53
Žydrūnas Savickas		49.5
Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson		49
Eddie Hall		45.5
Mike Burke		34.5
Jean-François Caron		31
Dimitar Savatinov		22
Mark Felix		17.5
Mikhail Shivlyakov		13
Jerry Pritchett		11

References