World’s Strongest Man returning to Bradenton. Here’s what to expect from ‘bigger’ event
The pursuit of strongman glory has begun anew and a new champion — or perhaps the current champion — for the 2020 World’s Strongest Man Championship will be crowned in Bradenton in May.
SBD Apparel is this year’s title sponsor.
The announcement was made on Tuesday giving fans a lot more time to prepare trips to the Bradenton area.
Last year’s announcement came just weeks ahead of the championship that had WSM fans across the globe scrambling to attend, but the event had a good showing nonetheless.
“We can certainly expect a much bigger economic impact than last year,” said Elliott Falcione, executive director of the Bradenton Area Convention and Visitors Bureau.
There are some significant changes this year, to include the timing of the event and the location.
New venue for World’s Strongest Man
Last year’s WSM championship took place in downtown Bradenton and on the beaches of Anna Maria Island. For the first time in WSM history, the entire event will take place at one location over four grueling days of competition.: The Premier Sports Campus off State Road 70 in Lakewood Ranch.
The only major complaint from last years’ event was the inability of many fans to see the competition. They lined up 10 deep on the beach, and a storm the night before caused the event to be delayed for hours as workers stabilized the sandy arena for competition.
Falcione said having the competition at Premier Sports Campus serves two important goals.
“We realized that we had to move away from the island for Memorial Day weekend so our leisurely visitors can still enjoy the island and at the same time we can give strongman fans a bigger capacity with bleacher seating that will be viewer friendly,” he said.
Falcione said one important thing will not change. The event remains free, though the Convention and Visitors Bureau is planning to set up a VIP package that will be for sale.. There also may be a charge for parking.
Keep monitoring bradentongulfislands.com for more details. Falcione said they are working on a page dedicated to the WSM event that will be updated with all the latest information.
Who is competing to be the World’s Strongest Man?
Exactly who is coming to Bradenton to compete is not known, as qualifying competitions are still underway.
However, expect to see some familiar faces such as “Game of Thrones” star Hafpor Julius “Thor” Bjornsson, who played the final “Mountain” in the popular HBO series.
Bjornsson’s upcoming qualifiers are ones he has dominated and no one is expecting this year to be different.
Bjornsson captured the world championship title in 2018, but he suffered an injury in a first day event in downtown Bradenton. The Icelandic legend went on to take third place despite the injury.
As for Bjornsson’s past injury?
“I don’t feel like I have any weaknesses,” he told theworldstrongestman.com. “I can’t wait to start.”
Martins “The Dragon” Licis, was born in Latvia but represents the U.S. Even with a world championship title under his belt, he’s still considered to be the future of the sport. Licis went onto win the WSM 2019 championship and Poland’s Mateusz Kieliszkoski took second.
One of the more popular athletes in strongman competition, Britain’s Eddie “The Beast” Hall, a WSM world champion, is said to have retired from WSM altogether. Hall trimmed down to compete in lighter weight competitions after one of his world record setting lifts almost killed him.
But he appears to be ready to make a comeback.
“I’m super excited to let everybody know that World’s Strongest Man is heading back to Bradenton Florida on May 20 to May 24,” Hall said in a Facebook video. “I personally cannot wait to get back out there ... I hope everybody can make it out there. Bring your sun cream, bring your pom poms and I’ll see you there.”
Others to watch for include the USA’s Brian Shaw, who has set the record for the number of times a competitor has qualified for the world championship. He is looking to qualify for a 10th straight year.
Bradenton Marauders will be part of the action
The 2020 championship is being dubbed as a “bigger and better.”
The competition, partly because it will be singularly located, is expected to move at a much more rigorous pace for the athletes, with six qualifying events and six finals events.
More will be revealed in the weeks leading up to the world championship, but the Bradenton Marauders baseball is are already planning a special outing for a May 23 Marauders game featuring special ticket prices and a post-game fireworks show dedicated to the strongman competitors.
The 2019 WSM world championship standings were:
- 1. Martins Licis (United States)
- 2. Mateusz Kieliszkowski (Poland)
- 3. Hafthor Bjornsson (Iceland)
- 4. Tom Stoltman (United Kingdom)
- 5. Jean-Francois Caron (Canada)
- 6. Brian Shaw (United States)
- 7. Luke Stoltman (United Kingdom)
- 8. Trey Mitchell (United States)
- 9. Adam Bishop (United Kingdom)
- 10. Konstantine Janashia (Georgia)