2019 Worlds Strongest Man
The 2019 World’s Strongest Man Arena Tour came to a dramatic close on 7 September at Manchester Arena.
The star studded athlete line-up featured a host of international strongmen, including reigning champion Mateusz Kieliszkowski, the Scottish Stoltman Brothers, England-hating American Robert Oberst, Iron Biby and the “T-Rex” Evan Singleton.
A Strongman Photo Finish! I 2019 World’s Strongest Man. Next time on the Palace world's strongest man presented by Rogue Two events completed for group five, and there's a dead heat at the top will the Usa's Bryant put some distance between himself and the field,. The 2019 World’s Strongest Man Arena Tour came to a dramatic close on 7 September at Manchester Arena. The star studded athlete line-up featured a host of international strongmen, including reigning champion Mateusz Kieliszkowski, the Scottish Stoltman Brothers, England-hating American Robert Oberst, Iron Biby and the “T-Rex” Evan Singleton.
The five brutal events featured a 350kg axle deadlift, a giant Mad Max-style 100kg dumbbell made from steel and stone, the 450kg Car Walk and the legendary Pillars of Hercules.
After coming third at Manchester last year, Adam Bishop was hoping to better his place at this year’s show – and he got off to the perfect start in Event 1, hitting 7 reps on the 350kg deadlift and barely pausing for breath, showing that conditioning really is a strong point for the Harlequins Strength and Conditioning coach!
But Bishop wasn’t the only one with a strong start!
Iron Biby, the huge athlete from Burkino Faso has been working on his conditioning and technique – and it showed when he just pipped T-Rex Evan Singleton to the post on the Car Walk.
Keiliskowski smashes car walk world record!
We witnessed an incredible new World Record from Poland’s Mateusz Kieliskowski when he smashed Laurence Shahlaie’s previous record of 11:05 seconds with an incredible 10.0 second sprint.
By the time we got to Event 4, the Pillars of Hercules, it was clear that newcomer Ben Badger Brunning was not to be under-estimated. After coming in 10th place at Britain’s earlier in the year, it is fair to say that Ben was not on anyone’s radar to make the podium at Manchester, particularly as he was a last minute addition to the line-up. But Wales' Strongest Man made sure the world took notice - getting extremely close to Felix's Hercules Hold World Record with a 75.4 second hold.
Of course, all eyes were on Terry Hollands to see if how he would perform in his return to strongman just 5 weeks out from competing in his first ever Body Building show, but Big Tel was suffering with a small Ninja Warrior-related injury - and although he came in 13th place overall, it was fantastic to see him back on the strongman stage and doing what he loves.
Felix does it AGAIN! Another epic WORLD RECORD from the 53 year old strongman!
Competing against guys half his age, 53 year old Mark Felix made another win for old man strength and broke his own 83.62 second world record with a 87.52 hold, to HUGE applause and well-deserved praise from the crowd.
Mind over matter - Shivlyakov continues competition despite hamstring tear
It wasn’t just the World Records that amazed and inspired at Manchester Arena. Despite tearing his hamstring in the axle deadlift, ex-Russian Marine Mikhail Shivlyakov showed some true strongman grit when he battled on through three more events, proving that these athletes really are in another league, not just when it comes to physical strength but mental strength, too.
Coming into the stones, Iron Biby and Novikov were in joint first place with Kieliskowski in second and Singleton and Brunning in joint third, but it was all down to the final event to determine the winner.
Stones has never been Biby’s strong point and he failed to lift the final 200kg stone, leaving the field open and an edge-of-seat finale to the show.
Massive congratulations must go to Kieliskowski who once again proved he is a force of strength winning his second Giants Live trophy this year and retaining his title of Tour Finals champ, with huge props to newbie Ben Brunning, who shocked the strongman world to take second place ahead of some of the World’s biggest and best athletes and proving he deserves his place among the best of the best. Ukraine Oleskii Novikov, who many had tipped for the title, took the third spot on the podium.
Giants Live World Tour Finals 2019 full results
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| Personal information | |
|---|---|
| Native name | Mārtiņš Līcis |
| Nickname(s) | The Dragon |
| Born | September 28, 1990 (age 30) Riga, Latvia |
| Height | 6 ft 2 ½ in (1.89 m) |
| Weight | 331 lb (150 kg) |
| Sport | |
| Sport | Strongman |
| Competition record | ||
|---|---|---|
| Representing United States | ||
| World's Strongest Man | ||
| 6th | 2016 World's Strongest Man | |
| 4th | 2017 World's Strongest Man | |
| 4th | 2018 World's Strongest Man | |
| 1st | 2019 World's Strongest Man | |
| Arnold Strongman Classic | ||
| 8th | 2017 | |
| 2nd | 2019 Arnold Strongman Classic | |
| 3rd | 2020 Arnold Strongman Classic | |
| Giants Live | ||
| 3rd | Wembley 2019 | |
| America's Strongest Man | ||
| 2nd | 2015 | |
| Representing Latvia | ||
| Ultimate Strongman | ||
| 1st | 2017 Ultimate Strongman Summermania | |
Martins Licis (Latvian: Mārtiņš Līcis; born September 28, 1990) is a Latvian-American professional strongman, notable for winning the 2019 World's Strongest Man competition and placing second in the Arnold Strongman Classic.[1]
Early life[edit]
Licis was born in Riga on September 28, 1990.[2] He holds dual citizenship with Latvia and the United States, and speaks Latvian fluently. He represents the United States in competition, having moved there with his family at the age of four. He grew up in Amherst, Massachusetts. During summers, he visited his grandparents' farm in Latvia, where he was first introduced to stone lifting by his grandfather Imants Līcis, a sculptor who formerly competed in Olympic weightlifting.[3]
In 2010, Martins Licis moved to California together with his friend Mikel Monleon. Licis eventually found a job as a personal trainer in West Hollywood, and later found out about the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic. Through this, Haugen invited Licis to train at his gym, but only let him compete in the Strength Classic three years later in 2015.[3]
Career[edit]
In 2015, Licis placed first in the Odd Haugen All-American Strength Classic. In 2016, Licis reached World's Strongest Man finals for the first time and placed sixth. He placed fourth in the World’s Strongest Man finals in 2017 and 2018.[3] Besides Strongman, Licis also competes in mas-wrestling, a variation of stick wrestling. He won gold in the 2016 MAS Wrestling Open World Championships in Columbus Ohio, beating out previous champion VIktor Kolibabchuk.[4] Licis' first pro triumph came in 2017 at the Ultimate Strongman Summermania, winning the competition representing his home country Latvia.
In 2019, Licis came in second during the Arnold Strongman Classic, placing behind current and 2x champion Hafþór Júlíus Björnsson. In June 2019, he won his first World’s Strongest Man title, beating out Björnsson, who came in third after injuring his left plantar fascia. Licis also placed ahead of Mateusz Kieliszkowski, who placed second, and 4 times World's Strongest Man winner Brian Shaw, who placed sixth after injuring his hamstring competing alongside Licis in the Arnold Strongman Classic earlier in March of the same year.[1]
2019 World's Strongest Man Winner
On January 18 2020, Licis won the Arnold Strongman Santa Monica Qualifier, beating out Brian Shaw by 1 point. This earned him a spot to compete in the Arnold Strongman Classic in Columbus, Ohio on March 8.[5] In the Arnold Strongman Classic Licis finished 3rd, behind the winner Björnsson and the second place Kieliszkowski.
In May 2020, Licis appeared on Game On! as an obstacle, engaging contestants in a strength contest.[6][7][8]
In August 2020, Licis appeared on an episode of To Tell The Truth with two other people all of them claiming to be the reigning World’s Strongest Man.[9]
References[edit]
World's Strongest Man 2020 Results
- ^ ab'Martins Licis Wins 2019 World's Strongest Man'. barbend.com. 2019-06-16.
- ^http://theworldsstrongestman.com/athletes/martins-licis/
- ^ abcGrabowski, Kyle (13 September 2019). 'PUMPED: Martins Licis not stopping after becoming World's Strongest Man'. Daily Hampshire Gazette. Retrieved 29 August 2020.
- ^'Invincible defeated: Martins Licis became an absolute world champion in mas-wrestling having prevailed over Viktor Kolybabchuk'. International mas‑wrestling federation. Retrieved 2020-08-29.
- ^https://www.arnoldsportsfestival.com/sports-and-events/strongman/arnold-strongman-classic
- ^'Martins Licis Competes Against Celebrities on CBS Show 'Game On!''. BarBend. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ^'World's Strongest Man Martins Licis Competes Against Cast Of Popular Game Show'. Fitness Volt. 2020-05-28. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ^'Martins Licis on Instagram: 'A one of a kind experience to be a part of @gameon ! Thank you for having me be on as an obstacle 😎💪 Absolutely epic. @romarkweiss Manager:…''. Instagram. Retrieved 2020-08-18.
- ^'To Tell the Truth' Michael Strahan, Patton Oswalt, Kristen Schaal, Taran Killam (TV Episode 2020) - IMDb, retrieved 2020-08-29